ELEMENTARY  SCHOO 


PARKER 


THE  LIST  PRICt     x  (r? 

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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


BOOKS  ON  EDUCATION 

BY 

SAMUEL  CHESTER  PARKER 

Professor  of  Educational  Methods  in 
The  University  of  Chicago 


The  History  of  Modern  Elementary 

Education      8vo,  505  pages 

Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools 

(Revised  Edition)      8vo,  529  pages 

Exercises  for  "  Methods  of  Teaching 

in    High    Schools  "      (Revised    Edition) 
8vo,  261  pages 

General    Methods  of  Teaching   in 

Elementary  Schools     (Revised  Edition) 
8vo,  336  pages 

Types  of  Elementary  Teaching  and 
Learning    (In  press) 


GENERAL  METHODS  OF  TEACHING 
IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


INCLUDING  THE  KINDERGARTEN 


BY 


SAMUEL  CHESTER  PARKER 

PROFESSOR   OK   EDUCATIONAL    METHODS    IN    THE 
UNIVERSITY   OF   CHICAGO 


REVISED  EDITION 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON     •    NEW   YORK     •    CHICAGO     •    LONDON 
ATLANTA     •     DALLAS     •     COLUMBUS     •     SAN    FRANCISCO 


COPYRIGHT,  1919, 1922,  BY  SAMUEL  CHESTER  PARKER 

ALL  RIGHTS   RESERVED 


gfre   fltbenatnm  ij»re« 

GINN  AND  COMPANY-  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A, 


Education 

Library 

L-o 
D 

1025 


TO 
THE  TEACHERS  OF  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL 

OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 

WHOSE  EXCELLENT  TEACHING  HAS  FURNISHED 

MANY  SUGGESTIONS  TO  THE  AUTHOR 


PREFACE 

Readers.  —  This  book  has  been  prepared  for  use  in 
normal  schools,  kindergarten  training  schools,  and  teachers' 
reading  circles.  Hence  it  has  been  made  quite  elementary 
in  content  and  adapted  to  the  understanding  of  freshman 
and  sophomore  students  of  approximately  eighteen  to  twenty 
years  of  age. 

Origin.  —  The  work  is  the  outcome  of  some  fifteen  years' 
experience  by  the  author  in  teaching  students  of  this  type  — 
five  years  in  the  State  Normal  College  at  Oxford,  Ohio, 
and  the  rest  in  The  University  of  Chicago.  In  the  latter 
institution  many  of  the  students  have  been  preparing  for 
unified  kindergarten-primary  teaching. 

Scope.  —  By  limiting  the  illustrations  in  this  volume  to 
teaching  in  elementary  schools  it  has  been  possible  to  make 
the  discussion  quite  concrete.  While  the  general  principles 
presented  apply  equally  well  to  high  schools,  teachers  in  the 
latter  will  find  the  author's  "  Methods  of  Teaching  in  High 
Schools"  (Ginn  and  Company,  1915)  and  his  Exercises  for 
"Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools"  (1918)  more 
suggestive  than  the  present  volume. 

Continuation.  —  Further  chapters,  dealing  with  the  train- 
ing of  pupils  in  writing,  spelling,  reading,  arithmetic,  under- 
standing social  life,  problem  solving,  communicating  ideas, 
enjoyment,  and  moral  behavior,  are  contained  in  the  author's 
"Types  of  Elementary  Teaching  and  Learning"  (Ginn  and 
Company). 

fat 


x  TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Scientific  basis.  —  The  scientific  basis  for  a  part  of  the 
discussion  in  the  book  is  found  in  modern  experimental 
and  statistical  studies  in  education  and  psychology,  such  as 
the  investigations  of  relative  values  in  arithmetic  and  spell- 
ing, of  drill  processes  in  formal  subjects,  and  of  individual 
differences  in  capacities  for  learning.  In  many  cases,  how- 
ever, where  precise,  objective,  scientific  investigations  are 
lacking,  I  have  relied  on  authoritative  analytical  discussions 
such  as  the  works  of  William  James. 

Influences.  —  The  author's  general  point  of  view  has  been 
determined  by  a  number  of  influences,  including  a  year  of 
training  in  experimental  psychology  and  education  under 
Professor  C.  H.  Judd  at  the  University  of  Cincinnati  (1901- 
1902)  and  two  years  of  graduate  study  under  Professors 
John  Dewey  and  E.  L.  Thorndike  of  Columbia  University. 
The  latter 's  textbook  entitled  "  Principles  of  Teaching  " 
(1905)  has  been  especially  influential,  since  I  have  used 
it  as  a  basis  of  discussion  in  my  classes  for  many  years. 
Five  years'  experience  in  administrative  work  in  The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  served  to  impress  upon  me  the  importance 
of  scientific  business  management  in  any  social  organization. 

Point  of  view. —  In  general,  the  author  takes  the  point 
of  view  that  efficiency  and  economy  in  instruction  are  facili- 
tated by  (i)  radically  adapting  all  instruction  to  contemporary 
social  needs ;  (2)  basing  methods  of  instruction  on  sound 
psychological  principles  which  have  been  determined,  as  far 
as  possible,  experimentally ;  and  (3)  applying  principles  of 
scientific  business  management  to  the  conduct  of  all  teach- 
ing. The  first  of  these  standards  eliminates  processes  that 
have  no  direct  social  value ;  the  second  eliminates  waste  of 
effort  resulting  from  the  use  of  uneconomical  and  ineffective 
methods  of  learning  ;  the  third  eliminates  waste  of  time  which 
results  from  failure  to  standardize  materials  and  processes. 


PREFACE  xi 

Concrete  material. —  Much  of  the  concrete  material  in 
the  book  has  been  derived  from  the  course  of  study  and 
teaching  of  the  Elementary  School  of  The  University  of 
Chicago.  This  school  of  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  chil- 
dren is  not  a  "freak"  school.  One  of  its  purposes  is  to 
aid  the  School  of  Education  in  preparing  teachers  and  super- 
visors for  the  regular  work  of  public  schools ;  hence  it  aims 
to  carry  on  in  the  best  possible  manner  the  same  lines  of 
work  as  are  found  in  the  best  public  schools.  Like  these 
schools,  it  has  a  well-graded,  systematic,  detailed  course  of 
study,  regular  printed  daily  programs  which  are  carefully 
followed,  regular  textbooks  with  an  excellent  supplementary 
library  of  children's  books,  printed  reading  charts  and  cards 
for  primary  work,  ready-made  drill  materials  for  arithmetic, 
standard  scientific  tests  for  measuring  progress,  a  school 
garden,  and  a  school  museum  containing  materials  to  be  used 
in  history  and  the  sciences.  The  children  are  usually  organ- 
ized into  groups  of  sixteen  to  twenty,  with  half-year  intervals 
for  classification.  Careful  supervision  has  enabled  the  school 
to  effect  such  economies  that  a  very  rich  elementary  course 
of  study  is  completed  in  seven  years.  In  addition  to  exam- 
ples from  the  University  Elementary  School,  the  book  contains 
illustrations  of  teaching  taken  from  many  other  sources. 

Kindergarten.  —  The  kindergarten  is  treated  in  this  book 
as  the  first  regular  grade  of  the  elementary  school,  as  is  now 
the  case  in  the  better  public  schools.  For  much  of  the  con- 
crete material  which  is  used  to  illustrate  this  type  of  kinder- 
garten work  I  am  especially  indebted  to  Miss  Alice  Temple, 
head  of  the  department  of  Kindergarten-Primary  Education  in 
The  University  of  Chicago.  Miss  Patty  Hill  of  the  Department 
of  Lower-Primary  Education  of  Teachers  College,  Columbia 
University,  kindly  furnished  a  number  of  pictures  illustrating 
the  progressive  kindergarten  teaching  in  that  institution. 


xii          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

OtJier  assistance.  —  To  others  of  my  colleagues  I  am 
indebted  for  many  suggestions:  to  Professor  J.  F.  Bobbitt 
in  matters  concerning  the  curriculum  ;  to  Professors  C.  H. 
Judd  and  F.  N.  Freeman  for  their  neiv  educational  psy- 
chology, which  has  proved  so  fruitful  in  the  study  of  how 
children  learn  ;  and  especially  to  Professor  W.  S.  Gray  for 
suggestions  which  have  led  to  many  rearrangements  of 
topics.  Mr.  H.  O.  Gillet,  principal  of  The  University  of 
Chicago  Elementary  School,  kindly  furnished  many  photo- 
graphs of  the  school's  activities  for  use  as  illustrations  in 
the  text.  Finally,  from  my  students,  especially  the  expert, 
experienced  teachers  in  elementary  schools,  I  have  received 
many  helpful  illustrations  and  examples. 

S.  C.  PARKER 


PREFACE  TO  THE  REVISED  EDITION 

I  have  taken  advantage  of  the  opportunity  offered  by  the 
printing  of  a  new  impression  of  the  "General  Methods  of 
Teaching  in  Elementary  Schools  "  to  make  certain  improve- 
ments in  the  text.  Some  of  these  are  merely  changes  in  the 
headlines  in  order  to  clarify  the  organization  at  certain  points. 
The  most  important  change,  however,  is  the  addition  of 
Chapter  XII  on  Project  Teaching.  While  the  original  edition, 
through  its  numerous  pictures,  stories,  and  descriptions  of 
actual  projects,  provided  abundant  discussion  of  this  general 
phase  of  learning  and  teaching,  it  seemed  desirable  to  am- 
plify the  treatment  by  a  special  chapter  which  would  bring 
out  quite  clearly  the  meaning,  history,  value,  limitations,  and 
technique  of  project  teaching.  The  addition  of  this  chapter 
necessitated  a  few  changes  in  the  definition  and  use  of  the 
term  "  project  "  in  Chapter  V  on  Organizing  Subject  Matter, 
particularly  on  pages  121  and  128. 

S.  C.  PARKER 


CONTENTS 

PART  I.    FUNDAMENTAL  POINTS  OF  VIEW 

CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION  TO  ARTISTIC  TEACHING 

PAGE 

Purpose  3 

Teachers  may  become  growing,  enthusiastic  artists 4 

Main  topics  to  be  discussed 7 

Bibliographical  Notes n 

CHAPTER  II 

BROADENING  PURPOSES  OF  ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL 
TEACHING 

Main  points  of  the  chapter 12 

Necessary  for  teachers  to  understand  purposes 13 

Historical  changes.    From  religion  to  complete  living 19 

Colonial  purposes 20 

Social  changes  since  colonial  period 21 

Increasing  happiness  of  multitudes  becomes  the  aim  of  democratic 

education 32 

Broader  social  aims 35 

Detailed  psychological  aims 45 

Bibliographical  Notes .' 51 

CHAPTER  III 
ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT 

Main  points  of  the  chapter 53 

Teacher  should  avoid  misdirected  time  and  energy 54 

Routinize  mechanical  aspects  ;  use  judgment  in  variable  aspects  ...  54 
Reasoning   and   individuality  may  have   the   same   place  in  a  well- 

routinized  school  as  in  social  life 55 

Examples  of  extreme  spontaneity  and  extreme  repression 56 

Begin  right  the  first  day 62 

xiii 


xiv        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

PAGE 

Varied  seating  and  grouping  of  pupils 64 

Routinized  passing  and  marching 67 

Handling  materials  ;  monitors 68 

Physical  conditions  of  the  classroom 71 

Maintaining  good  order 74 

Bibliographical  Notes 83 

"> 
CHAPTER  IV 

SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER 

SOCIAL  AND  RELATIVE  VALUES  ;  SCIENTIFIC  BASIS 

Main  points  of  the  chapter 84 

I.  ADAPTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  TO  VARYING  SOCIAL  NEEDS 

Reading :  social  change  from  oral  reading  to  rapid  silent  reading  .    .  86 

Adapting  arithmetic  to  social  needs.   Obsolete  and  new  topics  ...  95 

From  religious-moral  to  civic-moral  instruction 96 

Social  changes  influencing  kindergarten 97 

Social  point  of  view  emphasized  by  sociologists 99 

II.  DETERMINING  THE  RELATIVE  VALUES  OF  TOPICS 

Spencer's  classic  discussion  of  relative  values 101 

Relative  values  in  arithmetic 102 

Spelling  lists  determined  by  scientific  investigations  of  relative  values    104 

III.  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  PROCEDURE  IN 

SELECTING   SUBJECT   MATTER 

Scientific  procedure  contrasted  with  personal  opinions 107 

Illustrated  by  spelling  investigations 107 

Summary  of  characteristics  of  scientific  investigations no 

Bibliographical  Notes 1 1 1 

CHAPTER  V 

ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER 
INTENSIVE  STUDY;   PSYCHOLOGICAL  ORGANIZATION 

Main  points  of  the  chapter 113 

Often  textbooks  determine  organization  above  first  grade 114 


CONTENTS  xv 

PAGE 

I.   INTENSIVE  STUDY  OF  LARGE  TOPICS  VERSUS 
ENCYCLOPEDIC  TENDENCIES 

In  geography.    Older  geography  like  a  "  crazy  quilt " 116 

Contrast  modern  fourth-grade  geography 117 

Large  significant  topics  in  which  this  teaching  centers 120 

History  illustrates  change  to  vivid  comprehension  of  large  issues  .     .  122 

Kindergarten  projects  replace  encyclopedia  of  trades 125 

Intensive  method  focalizes  large  significant  issues  to  be  remembered  128 

II.   ORGANIZATION  IN  TERMS  OF  THE  LEARNER  INSTEAD 
OF  IN  TERMS  OF  THE  SUBJECT 

In  history.    Chronological  organization 131 

Children's  ability  to  understand  history 131 

History  course  as  adapted  to  children 135 

From  chronological  to  psychological  organization  in  history  ....  140 

History  of  efforts  to  secure  psychological  organization 141 

Rousseau  said  study  childhood 141 

Pestalozzi  would  psychologize  teaching '.....  143 

"  From  simple  to  complex  "  led  Pestalozzi  astray  ;  alphabet  methods  144 

Pestalozzi's  alphabets  based  on  subjects,  not  on  childhood 148 

James  on  how  children  learn 149 

Subject  matter,  now  psychologically  organized,  begins  with  wholes    .  150 

Transition  to  Part  II ;  summary  of  Part  I 154 

Bibliographical  Notes 156 


PART  II.    LEARNING  PROCESSES;  GENERAL 
ASPECTS 

CHAPTER  VI 
HOW  CHILDREN  LEARN;   BY  THEIR  OWN  RESPONSES 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  SELF-ACTIVITY 

Main  points  of  the  chapter 1 57 

Relation  to  Part  I 158 

Term  "  learning  "  has  broad  meaning 158 

Self-activity  of  pupil,  not  the  teacher's  activity,  educates  him     .    .    .  161 


xvi        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

PAGE 

Self -control,  self-restraint,  and  inhibition  are  high  forms  of  self-activity  163 

Inner  responses  difficult  to  determine 165 

Bibliographical  Notes 166 

CHAPTER  VII 

BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES 
THE  DOCTRINE  OF  APPERCEPTION 

Main  points  of  the  chapter 168 

Kxamples  of  responses  to  "bay,"  "  Belgium,"  "abolition"      ....  169 

Words  used  as  meaningless  jingle 170 

History  of  recognition  of  apperception  ;  Rousseau 175 

Well-intentioned  Pestalozzians  went  astray 175 

Kindergartens  ascribed  to  children  impossible  abstract  ideas  ....  177 

Home  geography  makes  geographic  ideas  real 182 

Bibliographical  Notes 188 

CHAPTER  VIII 
PUTTING  PUPILS  IN  A  FAVORABLE  FRAME  OF  MIND 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PREPARATION 

Main  points  of  the  chapter 190 

Examples  of  the  influence  of  mental  backgrounds 191 

Pupils'  irrelevant  answers  illustrate  influence  of  wrong  line  of  thought  192 

Teacher  must  prepare  mental  backgrounds 194 

Bibliographical  Notes 199 

CHAPTER  IX 

INTERESTS;  THE  BASIS  OF  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING 

Main  points  of  the  chapter * 200 

Interest  is  a  helpful  attitude  in  learning 201 

Illustrated  by  use  of  interest  in  adventure  in  teaching  reading    ...  201 

Utilizing  children's  interests  is  a  business  proposition 205 

Children's  interests  call  forth  spontaneous  attention 206 

Sugar-coating  justified  if  it  secures  properly  directed  attention  .    .    .  207 

Three  questions  in  evaluating  use  of  an  instinctive  interest    ....  209 


CONTENTS  xvii 

PAGE 

Illustrated  by  emulation 209 

Important  instincts  used  as  basis  of  attention  and  interest      .    .    .    .  214 

Older  instinctive  appeals 215 

Other  instinctive  interests  utilized  recently 216 

Children  learn  to  work  effectively  through  interesting  activities     .    .  242 

Bibliographical  Notes 245 

CHAPTER  X 
DRILL  AND  PRACTICE 

MAKING  RESPONSES  AUTOMATIC  BY  REPETITION 

Main  points  of  the  chapter 247 

Examples  of  greatly  improved  technique  in  drill  lessons 248 

Examples  introduce  to  principles  of  drill 255 

Only  correct  practice  makes  perfect 255 

Do  not  waste  time  on  nonessential  processes 257 

Arouse  zeal,  interest,  and  concentration  of  attention 258 

Use  ready-made  scientifically  organized  drill  systems 259 

Continue  drill  until  precise  standard  scores  are  maintained     ....  261 

Give  practice  in  using  abstract  forms  in  concrete  situation:;    ....  262 

Is  incidental  drill  as  good  as  specific  drill  ? 264 

Specific  drill  especially  needed  with  rich,  enticing  course  cf  study     .  266 

Bibliographical  Notes 267 

CHAPTER  XI 


Main  points  of  the  chapter 269 

Example.    Great  differences  in  capacity  for  learning  to  sing  ....  270 

Weak  or  slow  pupils.    Monotones  not  denied  promotion 273 

Contrast  with  regard  to  skill  in  fundamentals  .    .     ._ 273 

Summary  concerning  individual  teaching  of  weak  pupils 277 

Proficient  pupils.    Varied  assignments 279 

Administrative  provisions  for  the  fast  and  slow .  287 

Scientific,    objective,    precise    studies    of    individual    differences. 

Amounts  of  difference 289 

Distribution  of  differences  in  ability 297 

Causes  of  individual  differences 302 


xviii      TEACHING   IN    ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

PAGE 

Inborn,  native  capacity  is  an  important  factor 302 

Idiots,  imbeciles,  and  other  feeble-minded 303 

Genius  and  eminence • 305 

Gallon's  study  of  twins 307 

Treat  each  pupil  sympathetically 307 

Improvability 308 

Varied  richness  of  human  nature  ;  important  capacities 310 

Programs  of  National  Education  Association 318 

From  Rousseau  to  Gallon 319 

Conclusion  of  discussion  of  individual  differences 320 

Bibliographical  Notes 320 


CHAPTER  XII 

PROJECT  TEACHING:    PUPILS  PLANNING  PRACTICAL 
ACTIVITIES 

Main  points  of  the  chapter 324 

Definition 324 

Examples 324 

Values  of  practice  in  planning  practical  activities 326 

Limitations  of  project  teaching 327 

Teacher's  technique 328 

Summary  of  Part  II 329 

Conclusion  of  Parts  I  and  II 330 

Enlist  for  artistic  teaching 330 

INDEX 331 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Upper-grade  class  presenting  a  morning  exercise  .     .     .      Frontispiece 

Medieval  town  and  castle  constructed  by  fifth  grade 8 

Second-grade  class  using  textiles 14 

Kindergarten  group  at  lunch 16 

Kindergarten  band  and  bandstand 18 

Diagram  of  broadening  purposes 20 

Page  from  "  New  England  Primer  " 21 

Boy  in  cotton  factory 26 

Samuel  Slater 28 

Slater's  mill 30 

Girl  with  hookworm  disease 36 

Map  of  activities  of  Rockefeller  Foundation     . 37 

Chart  for  combating  tuberculosis 39 

Tubercular  child  with  open-air  smile 41 

Kindergarten  table  of  large  blocks 65 

Title-page  of  Bingham's  "  Columbian  Orator  " 90 

Sample  page  from  Bingham's  "  Columbian  Orator  " 93 

Screen  playhouse  for  kindergarten 122 

Inside  of  screen  playhouse 1 23 

Street  scene  constructed  in  kindergarten 124 

Kindergarten  grocery  store 127 

Kindergarten  community  buildings 129 

First  grade  designing  Indian  costumes .     .     .  132 

Indian  play  presented  in  first-grade  room 134 

Indian  play  presented  to  school  assembly 136 

Third  grade  constructing  Viking  project 138 

Rousseau 143 

"  Simple-to-complex  "  kindergarten  constructions 147 

Second-grade  drawing  as  story-telling 152 

Washing  the  kindergarten  dolls'  clothes 1 54 

Maze  for  experimenting  with  chicks 1 60 

The  kindergarten  chickens 1 70 

Lacing  shoes  in  kindergarten 1 78 

Toy  cows  in  kindergarten 1 78 

JOS. 


xx          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

PAGE 

Kindergarten  children  gardening 180 

Kindergarten  children  raking  leaves 1 80 

Seven  hills  of  Rome  in  sand-pan    .          184 

Saxon  settlement  in  sand-pan    . .  185 

Sixth-grade  irrigation  project  in  sand-pan 186 

A  blow  for  each  mistake  ., 217 

Second-grade  composition  ;  a  riddle 224 

Medieval  tournament  in  fifth-grade  sand-pan 230 

Medieval  town  in  sand-pan        232 

Third  grade  dramatizing  early  Chicago 236 

Roman  history  dramatized  by  fourth  grade 238 

Shepherd  play  produced  by  second  grade 240 

Arithmetic  paper  showing  individual  diagnosis 274 

Children's  library  for  supplementary  reading 278 

Arithmetic  scores  represented  by  piled  blocks 299 

Reading  scores  represented  by  piled  blocks 300 

Normal  surfaces  of  frequency 301 

Desert  types  being  drawn  by  geography  class 312 


KEY  TO  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  REFERENCES 

The  books  from  which  quotations  are  made  in  the  text  are 
included  in  the  bibliographies  which  are  printed  at  the  ends  of  the 
chapters.  The  source  of  each  quotation  is  indicated  (usually  at  its 
end)  by  two  figures  in  parenthesis.  The  first  figure  refers  to  the 
book  by  its  number  in  the  bibliography  at  the  end  of  the  chapter, 
and  the  second  figure  refers  to  the  page.  Thus,  (4 :  76)  means 
page  76  in  the  fourth  book  in  the  chapter  bibliography.  This 
system  has  been  adopted  in  order  that  the  instructor  or  student 
may  verify  or  follow  up  any  quotation,  but  at  the  same  time  the 
ordinary  reader  will  not  be  distracted  by  numerous  footnote  refer- 
ences which  are  unimportant  in  his  reading. 


GENERAL   METHODS  OF  TEACHING 
IN   ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


PART  I.    FUNDAMENTAL  POINTS 
OF  VIEW 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION  TO  ARTISTIC  TEACHING 

Purpose. — The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  introduce  pro- 
spective elementary-school  teachers  to  the  principles  which 
underlie  good  teaching. 

An  elementary  discussion  of  established  ideas.  —  It  is 
assumed  that  the  readers  know  little  about  teaching ;  hence 
the  discussions  are  quite  elementary  in  character.  The  author 
is  not  presenting  new  educational  ideas,  but  is  endeavoring 
to  make  established  ideas  clear  to  beginners.  It  is  assumed, 
however,  that  the  readers  are  high-school  graduates  who  are 
probably  pursuing  courses  in  normal  schools,  hence  it  is  ex- 
pected that  they  will  be  able  to  understand  discussions  which 
are  no  more  difficult  than  the  courses  in  history,  civics,  or 
science  offered  in  high  schools. 

Discussion  relates  to  ordinary  city-school  teaching.  —  The 
teaching  situations  which  the  author  has  in  mind  throughout 
the  discussions  are  ordinary,  fairly  well-graded  rooms  in  city 
or  town  schools  with  about  forty  children  in  a  room.  It  is 
assumed  that  there  is  fairly  good  equipment;  for  example, 
sets  of  supplementary  readers,  cards  for  drill  work,  materials 
for  constructive  activities  and  for  games,  wall  maps,  possibly 
globes,  etc.  It  is  assumed  that  the  prospective  teachers  are 
aiming  to  become  specialists  in  kindergarten  or  primary 
teaching  or  in  teaching  in  the  middle  or  upper  grades. 

3 


4  TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Teachers  may  become  growing,  enthusiastic  artists.  —  It 
is  assumed,  further,  that  the  readers  are  sincerely  interested 
in  improving  as  teachers  and  becoming  real  artists  in  their 
field,  for  teaching  may  be  practiced  as  a  fine  art  similar  to 
that  of  an  actor,  musician,  painter,  or  writer.  As  the  teacher 
masters  the  principles,  methods,  tools,  and  devices  of  teach- 
ing, she  may  strive  for  finer  and  finer  effects  in  the  same 
way  that  an  artist  does.  In  her  earlier  teaching  she  may  be 
satisfied  to  gain  practice  and  skill  in  some  of  the  cruder 
points  of  teaching,  such  as  avoiding  waste- of  time,  securing 
good  discipline,  and  having  most  of  the  children  understand 
what  is  studied.  But  after  one  or  two  years  of  experience 
she  may  strive  for  finer  effects  and  begin  to  differentiate 
her  pupils  carefully,  to  understand  the  capacities,  needs,  and 
progress  of  each  individual,  and  to  secure  zest  and  inter- 
est in  all  work.  Some  teachers  are  so  much  interested  in 
improvement  of  this  type  that  they  spend  several  years 
developing  their  technique  in  one  grade  or  series  of  grades, 
—  for  example,  in  the  kindergarten  or  the  primary  grades, 
—and  find  a  never-ending  field  of  artistic  improvement  in 
such  specialized  teaching,  just  as  one  painter  might  spend 
his  life  studying  and  practicing  the  painting  of  landscapes, 
while  another  paints  only  portraits.  The  artist-teacher,  more- 
over, has  especially  interesting  material  to  work  with,  namely, 
the  plastic  and  varied  personalities  of  her  pupils. 

City  systems  and  normal  schools  provide  for  specialization 
in  grade  teaching.  —  Educators,  as  a  rule,  realize  the  large 
possibilities  of  such  specialized  technique  and  improved  teach- 
ing within  a  single  grade.  As  a  consequence,  in  city  systems, 
at  the  present  time,  expert  primary  teachers  are  paid  as  high 
salaries  as  upper-grade  teachers,  and  are  not  "promoted" 
to  the  upper  grades,  as  was  formerly  the  practice.  Similarly, 
in  the  better  normal  schools  the  training  courses  are  special- 
ized so  that  students  are  trained  for  kindergarten-primary 
teaching  or  for  upper-grade  teaching.  (1) 


INTRODUCTION  TO  ARTISTIC  TEACHING         5 

Don't  be  discouraged  by  the  unusual  pictures.  —  Scattered 
through  the  text  are  about  fifteen  pictures  illustrating  certain 
features  of  the  work  in  a  very  well-equipped,  well-staffed 
private  elementary  school,  particularly  the  use  of  sand- 
table  construction  projects  and  dramatic  projects  to  vitalize 
the  teaching  of  history  and  geography.  Very  commonly 
such  pictures  call  forth  the  comment,  "  Oh,  you  can't  do 
such  work  in  the  public  schools."  This  is  not  always  true, 
since  some  of  the  most  progressive  public  schools  are  now 
so  well  equipped,  staffed,  and  supervised  that  they  are  doing 
some  of  the  same  type  of  work  as  that  shown  in  the  pic- 
tures. For  example,  it  is  a  comparatively  simple  matter  for 
a  public-school  fourth  grade  to  represent  the  seven  hills 
of  Rome  in  a  sand-pan  as  shown  on  page  184  or  for  an 
upper  grade  to  present  the  morning  exercise  shown  in  the 
frontispiece.  The  class  depicted  in  the  latter  were  study- 
ing the  westward  movement  in  United  States  history,  from 
Daniel  Boone  to  the  settlement  of  the  Pacific  coast.  During 
their  drawing  periods  each  pupil  drew  a  picture  represent- 
ing some  phase  of  this  pioneering  movement.  In  their 
regular  history  periods  they  told  the  class  about  their  pic- 
tures, and  then  repeated  the  performance  for  the  benefit 
of  the  school  assembled  for  morning  exercises.  The  value 
of  such  training  in  vitalizing  history  and  in  developing  skill 
in  graphic  and  oral  expression  is  obvious.  Naturally,  such 
teaching  calls  for  more  resourcefulness  and  skill  on  the  part 
of  the  teacher  than  does  merely  hearing  recitations  from 
textbooks.  This  fact  need  not  discourage  the  beginning 
teacher,  however,  but  rather  encourage  her  to  look  forward 
to  the  day  when,  having  mastered  the  easier  routine  features 
of  teaching,  she  may  undertake  some  of  the  more  difficult 
tasks  suggested  by  the  pictures.  In  order,  at  this  point, 
to  get  a  concrete  notion  of  some  of  the  opportunities  for 
such  teaching,  the  reader  might  find  it  interesting  to  look 
at  all  the  pictures. 


6  TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Teachers'  training  includes  subject  matter,  general  skills, 
devices,  principles.  —  The  study  of  this  book  provides  only 
a  small  part  of  the  training  which  a  teacher  needs.  The 
preparation  of  a  teacher  is  a  complex  task  and  should  include 
thorough  training  in  each  of  the  following : 

1 .  The  subject  matter  which  she  is  to  teach ;  for  exam- 
ple, a  teacher  in  the  middle  grades  should  have  in  her 
normal-school  course  a  thorough  study  of  the  geography  of 
North  America  and  similar  thorough  courses  dealing  with 
the  other  subjects  of  the  intermediate  grades. 

2.  Certain  general  habits  and  skills  ;  for  example,  a  pri- 
mary teacher  needs  to  be  skilled  in  handwriting,  in  black- 
board drawing,  in  some  forms  of  constructive  work,  such  as 
weaving  or  modeling,  in  adding  and  subtracting  numbers, 
and  in  using  good  English. 

3.  The  use  of  hundreds  of  specific  devices,  such  as  games 
for  teaching  phonics  in  the  primary  grades,  methods  of 
teaching  the  use  of  decimal  fractions  in  the  intermediate 
grades,  etc. 

4.  Understanding  and  applying  the  general  principles  of 
method,  such  as  the  principle  that  drills  are  made  effective 
by  securing  zest  and  concentration  of  attention  or  the  prin- 
ciple that  new  ideas  must  be  related  to  a  child's  past  experi- 
ence in  order  that  he  may  understand  them. 

This  book  explains  principles  illustrated  by  devices.  — 
This  book  is  not  concerned  with  numbers  i  and  2  above, 
namely,  a  mastery  of  subject  matter  and  general  skills.  It 
is  concerned  primarily  with  number  4,  namely,  the  general 
principles  of  method.  In  order  that  the  reader  may  secure 
a  working  understanding  of  these  principles,  however,  it 
is  necessary  to  indicate  how  they  are  actually  carried  out 
in  practice.  Consequently,  all  principles  are  illustrated  by 
examples  and  devices,  generally  from  real  teaching  situations. 
Skill  in  teaching  usually  involves  the  use  of  such  specific 
devices  as  are  noted  in  paragraph  3,  above,  but  in  order 


INTRODUCTION  TO  ARTISTIC  TEACHING        7 

that  a  teacher  may  know  which  devices  and  practices  are 
correct  and  which  ones  are  harmful  it  is  necessary  that  she 
understand  the  principles  of  method.  These  principles  will 
enable  her  to  judge  of  the  correctness  or  validity  of  devices 
which  are  suggested  to  her  and  may  also  start  her  on  the 
right  road  to  the  invention  of  valuable  original  devices  which 
she  may  use  in  her  particular  work. 

Main  topics  to  be  discussed.  —  The  principal  topics  which 
will  be  taken  up  are  the  following : 

Part  I.    Fundamental  Points  of  View 

I.    Artistic  teaching. 

II.  The  broadening  purposes  of  elementary-school  teaching, — 
the  change  from  religious  salvation  to  complete  living  as 
the  aim  of  elementary  education. 

III.  Economy  in  classroom  management,  —  applying  principles 

of  scientific  business  management. 

IV.  Selecting   subject   matter,  —  choosing   the   most   valuable 

material  to  meet  the  social  needs  of  to-day. 
V.    Organizing  subject  matter, — avoiding  meaningless  encyclo- 
pedic details  and  organizing  subjects  as  children  learn 
them  most  readily. 

Part  IT.    Learning  Processes ;   General  Aspects 

VI.    How  children  learn  —  through  their  own  responses  and 

efforts. 

VII.    Building  on  pupils'  past  experiences. 
VIII.    Putting  pupils  in  a  favorable  frame  of  mind. 
IX.    Utilizing  children's  active  interests  in  order  to  secure  con- 
centrated attention  and  economy  in  learning. 
X.    Drill,  —  the  use  of  ready-made  scientific  drill  systems  to 

secure  interesting  economical  learning  by  repetition. 
XL    Individual  differences,  —  adapting  class  instruction  to  differ- 
ences in  capacity  so  that  the  fast  pupils  will  not  loaf  or 
the  slow  ones  be  dragged  so  fast  that  they  fail  to  learn. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  ARTISTIC  TEACHING         9 

The  above  outline  does  not  include  all  the  principles  of 
method  in  teaching,  but  only  some  of  the  most  important 
general  aspects  of  method.  There  remain,  moreover,  many 
special  methods,  such  as  teaching  children  to  write,  to  spell, 
to  solve  problems,  etc.,  which  are  discussed  in  the  author's 
"  Types  of  Elementary  Teaching  and  Learning." 

Observations  of  teaching  should  supplement  study  of  the 
text.  —  The  study  of  this  text  will  prove  much  more  profit- 
able to  the  students  if  they  can  observe  teaching  which 
illustrates  the  principles  set  forth  and  discuss  the  observed 
teaching  in  class.  Hence  it  is  recommended  that  the  in- 
structor of  the  course  in  methods  of  teaching  arrange  for 
the  students  to  observe  excellent  lessons  which  illustrate  the 
specific  phases  of  teaching  under  discussion  at  the  time. 

Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page.  —  The  castle  and  fortified 
town  shown  in  the  picture  on  the  opposite  page  were  constructed 
out  of  cardboard  by  a  fifth-grade  class  which  was  studying  the 
Feudal  Age  in  European  history.  The  children  had  read  the 
King  Arthur  and  other  stories,  as  well  as  descriptions  of  the  life 
in  town  and  castle.  On  the  basis  of  this  reading,  they  planned 
an  imaginary  medieval  town  and  castle  as  shown  in  the  drawings 
on  the  blackboard.  They  then  constructed  the  walls  and  buildings 
from  cardboard  coated  with  a  preparation  of  flour  and  salt  to 
resemble  stone.  Certain  parts  were  colored  with  coffee,  water 
colors,  etc. 

The  fortified  town  shown  on  the  left  contained  one  building  for 
each  type  of  craftsman  or  merchant,  —  the  tailor,  the  metal  worker, 
the  importer  of  baled  goods,  etc.  In  the  public  square  was  shown 
a  medieval  fair.  The  crowded  condition  of  a  medieval  town  was 
brought  out  by  the  narrow  streets  and  overhanging  second  stories 
of  the  houses.  On  the  right  is  the  castle  of  the  baron  who  was 
lord  of  the  region.  Between  the  town  and  the  castle  are  the  feudal 
lands,  owned  by  the  baron,  and  cultivated  in  strips  according  to 
medieval  practices. 

Too  small  to  be  seen  in  the  picture  is  a  procession  of  knights 
proceeding  from  the  castle  to  the  town  to  attend  the  fair.  On  the 


10         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

blackboard  in  the  left-center  are  sketches  of  historical  costumes  in 
which  the  little  dolls  representing  the  characters  were  dressed. 

The  next  fifth-grade  class  which  worked  on  this  project  con- 
structed a  historical  castle  instead  of  an  imaginary  one.  They 
chose  the  castle  of  Kenilworth  and  from  books  of  travel,  encyclo- 
pedias, etc.  obtained  the  details  for  its  construction.  Later  they 
wrote  a  play  centering  in  a  visit  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  Kenil- 
worth and  the  return  of  Drake  from  one  of  his  voyages.  As  a 
piece  of  cooperative  work  in  English  the  class  wrote  the  following 
poem  concerning  their  work  : 

OUR  CASTLE  IN  THE  SAND-PAN 

Within  our  sand-pan  straight  and  long, 
We  've  built  an  ancient  castle  strong ; 
It  has  some  battlemented  towers 
That  guard  the  lovely  ladies'  bowers ; 
A  moat  that 's  deep  and  wide  around, 
And  green  grass  growing  on  the  ground. 

We  now  have  built  a  mighty  keep, 

Also  a  hall  where  knights  do  sleep. 

We  've  built  a  wall  around  the  grotto 

Which  we  have  carved  with  Leicester's  motto. 

Our  Kenilworth  is  fair  and  gay 
With  banners  floating  all  the  day, 
For  good  Queen  Bess  in  royal  array 
Is  coming  in  her  barge  this  day. 
All  loyal  hearts  these  means  employ, 
To  show  how  full  they  are  of  joy. 

See  reference  2  on  page  1 1  for  a  description  of  the  course  of 
study  in  which  these  projects  appeared. 

The  picture  illustrates  vitalizing  and  clarifying  historical  ideas  in 
teaching,  as  well  as  the  utilization  of  children's  interests  in  romance 
and  adventure  and  in  manipulation.  It  is  introduced  at  this  point 
as  an  example  of  the  fine  art  of  teaching  as  practiced  by  a  teacher  of 
thorough  training,  wide  experience,  and  energetic  interest  in  her  art. 

Incidentally,  notice  the  compact  map  equipment  above  the  black- 
boards. About  ten  maps  can  be  seen  hung  on  rollers  like  those  of 
window  shades. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  ARTISTIC  TEACHING       n 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

1.  JUDD,  C.  H.,  and  PARKER,  S.  C.    Standardizing  State  Normal 
Schools.    Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin,  1916,  No.  12.    Chapter  IX 
contains  a  description  of  the  policy  of  progressive  state  normal  schools 
of  organizing  differentiated  training  courses  for  the  teachers  of  primary 
grades,  intermediate  grades,  and  upper  grades. 

2.  Course  of  Study  in  Community  Life,  History,  and  Civics  in 
the  Elementary  School  of  The  University  of  Chicago.    Prepared  by  the 
grade  teachers  of  the  University  Elementary  School  and  printed  in  the 
Elementary  School  Journal,  1917,  Vol.  XVII,  pp.  397-431,  485-520, 
550-575,  627-649.    This  detailed  course  of  study  explains  the  subject 
matter  and  activities  illustrated  by  a  number  of  pictures  in  this  text. 
Similar  courses  of  study  are  available  in  geography  and  science. 

3.  Courses  of  Study  of  the  Speyer  School  and  of  the  Horace  Mann 
Elementary  School.  (Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  prices  60 
and  80  cents  respectively.)  These  detailed  courses  of  study  describe  the 
work  in  two  elementary  schools  that  have  had  the  benefit  of  excellent 
professional  advice  in  organizing  their  teaching.    An  earlier  edition  of 
the  Horace  Mann  course  is  printed  in  the  Teachers  College  Record, 
1913,  Vol.  XIV. 


CHAPTER  II 

BROADENING  PURPOSES  OF  ELEMENTARY- 
SCHOOL  TEACHING 

Main  points  to  open  each  chapter.  —  At  the  beginning  of 
each  chapter  will  be  found  a  brief  statement  of  its  main 
points.  This  should  be  read  rapidly  in  order  to  get  a  general 
notion  of  what  is  to  come.  After  the  chapter  is  finished,  it 
may  be  studied  as  a  summary  of  the  chapter. 

Main  points  of  the  chapter.  —  i .  Turmoil  and  confusion  often 
result  in  school  systems  because  the  teachers  fail  to  understand 
the  purposes  of  the  classroom  activities. 

2.  Hence  a  clear  understanding  of  the  aims  and  purposes  of  the 
elementary  schools  of  to-day  is  the  starting  point  for  a  discussion 
of  methods  of  teaching. 

3.  The  elementary  schools  of  to-day  train  for  complete  living ; 
their  purposes  are  as  broad  as  life  itself. 

4.  This   broad   program    contrasts  strongly  with  the   narrow 
colonial  Puritan  elementary  schools,  which  trained  children  to  avoid 
sin  and  Satan. 

5.  The  expansion  of  the  elementary  school  is  due  largely  to 
three  social  influences :  (a)  democratic  government,  (/£)  practical 
humanitarianism,  (e)  the  industrial  revolution  growing  out  of  the 
factory  system. 

6.  The  combination  of  these  factors  is  resulting  in  happiness  of 
the  multitudes  being  made  the  end  of  democratic  government  and 
of  democratic  education. 

7.  Training  for  happiness  emphasizes  health,  enjoyment  of  lei- 
sure, good  will,  and  social  service  as  the  social  aims  of  the  school. 

8.  In  training  each  boy  and  each  girl  to  attain  these  broader 
social  aims,  the  teacher  develops  in  them  valuable  information, 
habits,  ideals,  and  many-sided  abiding  interests. 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  13 

Necessary  for  teachers  to  understand  purposes  of  school 
activities.  —  It  is  highly  important  that  teachers  understand 
the  aims,  purposes,  and  values  of  the  activities  which  they 
supervise  in  school.  Unless  they  do  understand  the  purposes 
of  all  parts  of  their  teaching,  time  and  energy  and  public 
funds  will  often  be  wasted  on  activities  that  have  little  value. 
The  possibilities  of  such  waste  are  illustrated  by  the  following 
observations. 

Turmoil  over  purposes  of  handwork.  —  About  1900  an 
observer  visited  a  very  backward  school  system  in  which  a 
new  superintendent  was  trying  to  introduce  many  innova- 
tions. These  innovations  had  been  described  to  the  teachers 
in  their  institute  week  at  the  opening  of  the  school  year,  but 
the  teachers  had  secured  little  comprehension  of  their  pur- 
poses. One  of  the  innovations  was  handwork.  Two  fourth- 
grade  rooms  were  visited  in  which  this  new  activity  was 
being  taught. 

Basket  factory  versus  "busy"  work.  —  In  one  of  these 
rooms  the  teacher  was  having  the  children  weave  wicker 
baskets.  She  was  very  enthusiastic  about  their  work.  She 
said  they  made  baskets  at  recess  and  after  school,  and  even 
worked  on  them  at  home.  Finished  baskets  were  hanging 
all  around  the  room,  and  she  proudly  showed  the  observer  a 
closet  full  of  them.  The  room  was  a  veritable  basket  fac- 
tory. The  observer  asked  her  if  the  basket-making  had  any 
connection  with  the  other  subjects,  but  she  said  it  did  not ; 
basket-making,  she  considered,  thoroughly  justified  itself. 

In  the  other  fourth-grade  room  just  the  opposite  situation 
prevailed.  The  class  was  divided  into  two  sections.  The 
study  section  was  quietly  weaving  flexible  splints  into  little 
mats.  At  the  end  of  the  period  they  took  the  mats  to 
pieces  and  replaced  the  splints  where  they  belonged.  This 
teacher  was  also  enthusiastic  about  the  new  activity ;  it  was 
so  useful  as  "busy  work,"  she  said,  to  keep  the  children 
out  of  mischief. 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  15 

Frills  versus  fundamentals,  —  Many  of  the  parents,  how- 
ever, did  not  view  the  handwork  with  favor.  They  complained 
that  the  three  R's  were  being  sadly  neglected  in  favor  of  the 
new  "  fads  and  frills."  The  children,  they  said,  now  spent 
their  time  at  home  cutting  paper  dolls  and  pasting  paper 
stars  instead  of  studying  "the  fundamentals."  Eventually 
the  turmoil  of  misunderstanding  became  so  great  that  the 
superintendent  moved  to  other  fields.  Possibly  he  succeeded 
there  in  getting  his  teachers  to  understand  that  the  purpose 
of  the  handwork  was  to  aid  in  the  study  of  community  life 


Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page Spinning  and  weaving 

have  always  been  among  the  most  important  of  human  industries. 
To  understand  them  is  an  important  factor  in  understanding 
human  needs  and  corresponding  industrial  processes.  They  may 
be  made  clear  to  children  by  beginning  with  the  simpler  mechani- 
cal devices,  some  of  which  the  children  may  use  themselves.  In 
the  picture  on  the  opposite  page  are  grouped  illustrative  mate- 
rials and  processes  used  in  a  second-grade  class  which  was  fol- 
lowing the  course  of  study  in  history  described  on  page  135. 
On  the  wall  is  hung  a  sheepskin,  from  which  the  children  acquired 
real  ideas  of  wool  in  the  natural  state.  At  the  left  are  two  chil- 
dren who  are  trying  to  comb,  or  card,  some  wool  with  a  couple 
of  primitive  carding-paddles  containing  pegs,  or  pins,  or  thorns. 
To  the  right  of  the  old  woman  is  a  child  trying  to  twirl  a  simple 
spinning  device  to  twist  cotton  into  threads.  At  the  extreme  right, 
a  child  is  weaving  a  little  rug  on  a  lap  loom.  All  the  materials, 
devices,  and  processes  described  so  far  could  be  provided  in  a 
well-equipped  public  school. 

The  central  figure  in  the  picture,  however, —  the  old  Italian 
woman  spinning  flax  on  her  own  spinning  wheel, —  could  seldom 
be  reproduced  even  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances.  She 
was  "  found  "  at  Hull  House,  one  of  Chicago's  great  social  settle- 
ments, where  many  European  immigrants  congregate  and  bring 
their  primitive  industrial  and  artistic  processes.  To  see  her  at 
work  was  a  valuable  educative  experience  for  these  children. 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  1 7 

in  connection  with  geography  and  history,  and  that  it  should 
be  taught  in  such  a  way  as  to  serve  this  purpose. 

Even  purposes  of  three  Ks  need  careful  defining.  —  In 
the  above  incident  the  complacency  of  the  parents  concern- 
ing the  values  of  the  three  R's  suggests  that  there  is  more 
common  agreement  about  the  purposes  of  teaching  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic  than  in  the  case  of  handwork.  A  care- 
ful analysis,  however,  of  the  teaching  of  these  well-estab- 
lished and  valuable  subjects  shows  that  teachers  are  often 
wasting  much  time  and  energy  in  activities  that  have  little 
value  in  the  world  at  large.  This  fact  will  be  brought  out 
in  detail  later. 

Kindergarten  illustrates  relating  activities  to  larger  pur- 
poses. —  The  fact  that  fourth-grade  handwork  should  be 
related  to  the  purposes  in  studying  geography  and  history, 
and  the  necessity  of  evaluating  the  three  R's  in  relation  to 
the  activities  of  the  world  at  large,  are  examples  of  the 
necessity  of  having  teachers  comprehend  the  larger  aims 
and  purposes  of  teaching  in  order  that  they  may  determine 
the  values  of  each  activity  which  they  supervise.  A  good 
example  of  this  process  of  evaluating  specific  schoolroom 


Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page The  little  kindergarten 

group  shown  at  lunch  on  the  opposite  page  illustrates  the  use  of 
certain  modern  kindergarten  materials  and  projects.  In  the  back- 
ground is  the  large  five-part  folding  screen  with  a  door  and 
curtained  windows,  used  to  construct  a  playhouse  as  described 
on  page  126.  To  the  left  of  the  door,  but  scarcely  visible  in  the 
picture,  is  a  sideboard  made  by  the  children  from  large  blocks. 
These  large  blocks  appear  more  clearly  in  the  little  chairs  upon 
which  the  children  are  seated.  'The  planning,  discussing,  and 
carrying  out  of  the  activities  suggested  in  this  picture  give  the 
children  training  in  problem  solving,  oral  expression,  cooperation, 
and  manual  construction,  as  well  as  helping  them  to  comprehend 
better  the  activities  of  their  homes. 


18         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

activities  in  terms  of  the  larger  purposes  of  education  is 
found  in  the  work  of  kindergarten  teachers. 

An  ordinary  observer  in  a  modern  kindergarten  may  see 
the  children  engaged  in  such  activities  as  are  pictured  on 
pages  1 6  and  18.  To  such  an  observer  the  children  seem 
to  be  merely  playing  —  playing  house,  playing  store,  play- 
ing with  dolls,  running,  skipping,  dancing,  singing,  etc.  The 


KINDERGARTEN   PLAY   PROJECT — BAND  AND   BANDSTAND 

From  The  University  of  Chicago  Elementary  School.    Are  these  children 

merely  having  a  good  time  or  are  they  attaining  some  of  the  educational 

aims  described  below  ? 


kindergartner,  however,  will  tell  you  that  while  it  is  merely 
play  for  the  children,  they  are  being  trained  in  "community 
life,  industrial  and  fine  arts,  language,  music,  physical  edu- 
cation, nature  study,  and  number  work."  She  may  tell  you 
that  the  purposes  of  the  play  activities  are  represented  in 
the  following  impressive  terms : 

I .  Social  or  moral  purposes :  for  example,  teaching  non- 
interference with  other  children ;  self-control,  as  in  keeping 
quiet  when  someone  else  is  speaking ;  order,  as  in  putting 
the  doll's  clothes  away ;  working  for  some  definite  end,  as 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  19 

in  procuring  the  seeds  and  preparing  the  soil  for  planting ; 
obedience,  as  in  following  promptly  the  teacher's  directions. 

2.  Training  in  reflective  thinking,  in  problem  solving:  for 
example,  in  devising  by  experimental  folding  a  paper  basket 
that  will  hold  the  seeds  that  are  to  be  planted  ;  in  devising 
a  slanting  roof  to  be  built  on  a  toy  barn ;  in  devising  a  bridge 
of  blocks  to  cross  an  imaginary  stream  that  has  been  marked 
with  chalk   on  the  floor ;    in  choosing  colors   for  various 
decorative  purposes,  etc. 

3.  Training  in  expression :  for  example,  in  drawing  and 
coloring  when  the  children  use  colored  crayons  to  represent 
a  flowering  plant ;  in  oral  expression,  when  they  tell  about 
their  toys  at  home  or  their  trip  to  the  grocery  store. 

4.  Training  in  (esthetic  enjoyment :  for  example,  in  fun- 
damental rhythms,  as  in  clapping,  skipping,  and  dancing ; 
also  in  music,  drawing,  painting,  designing,  and  story-telling. 

5.  Training   in    manual  skill:    for  example,   in    piling 
blocks,  in  cutting  with  scissors,  in  modeling  with  plasticine, 
in  throwing  and  catching  a  ball. 

Historical  changes  in  purposes.  From  religion  to  complete 
living.  —  The  examples  given  above  are  intended  to  illus- 
trate what  is  meant  by  understanding  the  aims  and  purposes 
of  elementary  teaching,  and  the  practical  bearing  of  this 
understanding.  We  shall  now  secure  further  insight  into 
the  matter  by  an  examination  of  the  aims  and  purposes  of 
elementary  schools  as  these  have  changed  in  America  since 
the  settlement  by  the  Puritans  in  New  England,  about 
1640.  The  diagram  on  page  20  summarizes  the  remarkable 
changes  which  we  shall  describe. 

This  diagram  suggests  the  enormous  expansion  which 
has  taken  place  in  elementary-school  purposes  and  gives 
the  title  to  this  chapter.  In  the  early  colonial  period,  in 
nearly  all  elementary  schools,  practically  the  sole  purpose 
of  teaching  was  religious  salvation.  In  contrast  with  this 
narrow  conception  the  purposes  in  American  public  schools 


20 


TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


at  the  present  time  have  become  as  broad  as  life  itself, 
excepting  only  religion. 

Colonial  purposes.  Massachusetts  law  to  circumvent 
Satan,  1647.  —  The  general  statement  about  the  dominant 
religious  purpose  in  colonial  elementary  schools  may  be  illus- 
trated by  the  following  quotation  from  the  Massachusetts  law 
of  1647.  To  appreciate  this  quotation  try  to  imagine  a 
state  legislature  at  the  present  time  phrasing  a  law  in  the 
same  fashion.  The  preamble  began  as  follows : 

It  being  one  chief  point  of  that  old  deluder,  Satan,  to  keep 
men  from  a  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  as  in  former  times,  by 
keeping  them  in  an  unknown  tongue,  so  in  these  latter  times,  by 
persuading  from  the  use  of  tongues,  that  so  at  last  the  true  sense 
and  meaning  of  the  original  might  be  clouded  by  false  glosses  of 
saint-seeming  deceivers,  that  learning  might  not  be  buried  in  the 
grave  of  our  fathers  in  church  and  commonwealth,  the  Lord  assist- 
ing our  endeavors,  It  is  therefore  ordered  that  every  township  in 
this  jurisdiction,  after  the  Lord  has  increased  them  to  the  number 
of  fifty  householders,  shall  then  forthwith  appoint  one  within  their 
town  to  teach  all  such  children  as  shall  resort  to  him  to  write  and 
read,  etc.  (7  :  60) 


1640 


Religious 
salvation 


1860 

Spencer 
Complete  living 


Happiness 
Health 

Harmless  enjoyment 

Goodwill 

Social  service 


DIAGRAM  OF   BROADENING   PURPOSES   IN   ELEMENTARY   EDUCATION 


Sin  and  Satan  pondered  by  children  in  the  "New  England 
Primer." — It  is  apparent  from  this  law  that  the  "old  deluder, 
Satan,"  was  a  very  real  personage  to  the  New  England  Puri- 
tans and  that  elementary  schools  were  considered  an  important 
weapon  in  beating  him.  The  little  children  in  school  were 


BROADENING  PURPOSES 


21 


daily  impressed  with  the  dangers  of  hell  and  the  devil  in 

their  study  of  the  "New  England  Primer."  The  sample  page 

from  the  Primer  which  is  reproduced  in  the  accompanying 

picture  shows  the 

children    offering 

their    "  Praise    to 

God  for  learning  to 

Read  ...  His  holy 

Word,"  because  it 

taught   each    that 

he  was  a  "  slave  to 

sin  "and  made  him 

wonder      whither 

could 


Praift  19  GOD  for  Itarnlag  to  Rtad. 

Til  E  IVi'fe?  of  my  Tongue 
I  offer  to  the  LORD, 
That  I  «m  taught  and  Ic*iat  fo  yeung 
To  read  his  boly>  Word. 

2  Tha*  I  was  brought  to  know 

The  Darge*  I  was  in, 
BJ-  N  ture  and  .by  PraeVce  loo 
A  wretched  Have  to  Sin; 

$  Thar  I  w?»<  M  to  fee 

•I  can  do  ooth'ng  well  ; 
And  whether  ihall  a  Sinne"  flee 
To  favc  hinfell  froai  Uell. 


a  sinner 
flee  to  save  himself 
from  Hell."  The 
"  New  England 
Primer"  was  the 
universal  book  for 
beginners  in  read- 
ing in  the  colonial 
schools  of  New 
England.  Similar 
primers  were  used 
in  other  colonies. 
After  the  primers 
had  been  mastered, 
pupils  proceeded 
to  read  in  the 

Bible.  In  the  early  colonial  schools  down  to  about  1750 
practically  all  of  the  reading  matter  was  of  a  religious  nature. 
Hardly  anything  else  was  taught  in  the  elementary  schools 
except  arithmetic,  and  that  only  in  the  larger  towns. 

Social   changes  since  colonial  period.  —  To  comprehend 
the    change    from    this    narrow   conception   of    elementary 


SAMPLE    PAGE     FROM    THE        NEW    ENGLAND 
PRIMER,"      ILLUSTRATING      THE      DOMINANT 
OTHER-WORLDLY    RELIGIOUS    AIMS    OF    COLO- 
NIAL   PURITAN    EDUCATION 


22          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

education  to  the  broad  idea  of  training  for  "complete  living," 
as  emphasized  by  Spencer  about  1 860,  it  is  necessary  to  con- 
sider the  enormous  social  changes  which  had  taken  place  in 
the  meantime.  We  shall  discuss  three  of  these  social  develop- 
ments or  changes  under  the  following  headings  :  democratic 
government,  practical  humanitarianism,  and  industrial  inter- 
dependence growing  out  of  the  factory  system. 

Democratic  government.  Without  education  it  becomes  a 
farce  or  a  tragedy. — The  organization  of  the  American  gov- 
ernment as  a  republic  following  the  Revolutionary  War  had 
far-reaching  influences  upon  elementary  education.  The  fact 
that  governmental  affairs  were  now  in  the  hands  of  represent- 
atives elected  at  short  intervals  by  the  people  made  it  very 
important  that  all  citizens  be  trained  to  understand  the  duties 
and  problems  of  citizenship.  This  fact  is  well  expressed  by 
James  Madison,  the  fourth  president,  in  the  following  words  : 

A  popular  government  without  popular  information  or  the 
means  of  acquiring  it,  is  but  a  prologue  to  a  farce  or  a  tragedy, 
or  perhaps  both.  .  .  .  The  best  service  that  can  be  rendered  to  a 
country  next  to  giving  it  liberty,  is  in  diffusing  the  mental  improve- 
ment equally  essential  to  the  preservation  and  enjoyment  of  that 
blessing.  (7:  133) 

Training  for  political  citizenship  not  an  empty  phrase.— 
Too  often  the  phrase  "  training  for  citizenship  "  is  spoken 
glibly  without  serious  comprehension  of  its  significance  in 
the  actual  life  of  our  country.  It  is  well  to  read  the  first 
sentence  in  Madison's  statement  and  then  apply  it  to  the 
reign  of  the  Bolsheviki  in  the  Russian  Revolution  of  1917- 
1918  to  understand  what  a  terrible  "farce"  or  "tragedy" 
a  republic  may  become  in  the  hands  of  mistaken  or  un- 
scrupulous leaders  of  an  uneducated  and  largely  illiterate 
people.  Training  in  reading  and  in  the  independent  study 
and  evaluation  of  printed  discussions  of  social  issues  is  one 
of  the  fundamental  bases  of  enlightened,  democratic  citizen- 
ship. Just  as  soon  as  our  republic  was  established,  this  fact 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  23 

was  appreciated.  As  a  consequence  political  orations  were 
inserted  in  the  school  readers,  and  accounts  of  the  history 
and  geography  of  the  country  began  to  be  written  and 
gradually  found  their  way  into  elementary  schools. 

Democratic  government  and  education  to  benefit  the  peo- 
ple. —  Not  only  does  democratic  government  necessitate  an 
education  which  trains  for  enlightened  citizenship  but  it 
demands  also  an  education  which  will  benefit  the  people, 
the  masses  of  citizens,  in  all  possible  ways.  This  becomes 
clear  when  we  think  of  a  democracy  in  Lincoln's  terms 
as  a  "  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people."  A  government  for  the  people  is  one  that  does  all 
it  can  for  the  people.  Since  the  public  schools  of  a  democ- 
racy are  merely  a  part  of  the  government,  their  purpose 
also  is  to  serve  and  benefit  the  people  in  all  possible  ways. 

Practical  humanitarians  attack  social  evils  including 
educational  neglect,  slavery,  juvenile  criminality,  and 
poverty.  —  The  problem  of  helping  and  benefiting  people 
was  attacked  during  the  nineteenth  century  not  only  by 
democratic  governments,  however,  but  also  by  practical 
humanitarians  working  as  individuals  or  organizations,  often 
in  cooperation  with  the  government.  To  help  the  unfortu- 
nate classes,  humanitarians  in  England  and  America  at- 
tacked especially,  during  that  century,  the  following  evils : 
slavery,  juvenile  criminality,  poverty  in  the  large  cities, 
child  labor,  and  the  lack  of  primary  education.  Slavery  in 
the  English  colonies  was  abolished  by  an  act  of  Parlia- 
ment of  1833.  Lincoln's  abhorrence  of  slavery  and  his 
abolition  of  it  in  this  country  are  familiar  to  all.  Juvenile 
criminality  and  poverty  in  the  large  cities  was  attacked  in 
America  early  in  the  century.  In  1800  the  population  of 
the  five  largest  cities  was  as  follows : 

Philadelphia,  69,403  Boston,  24,937 

New  York,  60,489  Charleston,  20,473 

Baltimore,  26,114 


24         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

In  these  cities  existed  concentrated  ignorance,  vagrancy, 
pauperism,  vice,  and  crime.  Public-spirited  citizens  who  were 
concerned  about  the  degraded  condition  of  the  lower  classes 
in  the  cities  organized  societies  to  study  and  improve  it. 
Thus,  in  New  York  City  there  was  organized  in  1817  the 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism.  This  society 
undertook  the  establishment  of  a  savings  bank,  an  appren- 
tice's library,  and  other  enterprises.  Defects  in  the  peniten- 
tiary system  were  attacked,  especially  the  confining  of  vagrant 
children  with  hardened  criminals.  A  private  subscription  of 
$  1  7,000  was  raised  for  the  founding  of  a  House  of  Refuge 
for  Juvenile  Delinquents,  which  was  established  in  1824, 
the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States. 

Private  philanthropy  established  free  schools  of  New  York 
City.  —  The  same  peculiar  problems  of  city  life  were  upper- 
most in  the  minds  of  citizens  who  established  the  first  free 
schools  on  a  large  scale  in  New  York  City.  Owing  to  the 
fact  that  no  public  schools  existed  in  this  city  of  75,000 
people  in  1805,  a  private  philanthropic  society  undertook  ex- 
tensive provisions  for  free  education.  Speaking  of  the  social 
needs  of  the  city's  poor  at  that  time  De  Witt  Clinton  said  : 

A  number  of  benevolent  citizens  had  seen,  with  concern,  the 
increasing  vices  of  the  city,  arising,  in  a  great  degree,  from  the 
neglected  education  of  the  poor.  Great  cities  are,  at  all  times, 
the  nurseries  and  hotbeds  of  crime.  Bad  men  from  all  quarters 
repair  to  them,  in  order  to  obtain  the  benefit  of  concealment,  and  to 
enjoy  in  a  superior  degree  the  advantages  of  rapine  and  fraud.  .  .  . 
The  mendicant  parent  bequeaths  his  squalid  poverty  to  his  off- 
spring, and  the  hardened  thief  transmits  a  legacy  of  infamy  to  his 
unfortunate  and  depraved  descendants.  ...  In  this  state  of  turpi- 
tude and  idleness,  leading  lives  of  roving  mendicancy  and  petty 
depredation  [these  children  existed]  a  burden  and  disgrace  to  the 
community.  (7:  265) 


Child  labor  attacked  by  English  humanitarians, 
The  efforts  of  humanitarians  to  benefit  the  masses  of  people, 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  25 

particularly  children,  is  further  illustrated  by  the  restriction 
of  child  labor  in  England.  The  following  account  of  this 
action  is  given  by  Hazen  following  his  story  of  the  English 
abolition  of  slavery  in  1833.. 

Conscience  was  aroused  at  the  same  time  by  a  cruel  evil  right 
at  home,  the  employment,  under  barbarous  conditions,  of  children 
in  factories.  The  employment  of  child  labor  in  British  industries 
was  one  of  the  results  of  the  rise  of  the  modern  factory  system. 
It 'was  early  seen  that  much  of  the  work  done  by  machinery  could 
be  carried  on  by  children,  and  as  their  labor  was  cheaper  than  that 
of  adults,  they  were  swept  into  the  factories  in  larger  "and  larger 
numbers,  and  a  monstrous  evil  grew  up.  They  were,  of  course, 
the  children  of  the  poorest  people.  Many  began  this  life  of  misery 
at  the  age  of  five  or  six,  more  at  the  age  of  eight  or  nine.  Incredi- 
ble as  it  may  seem,  they  were  often  compelled  to  work  twelve  or 
fourteen  hours  a  day.  Half-hour  intervals  were  allowed  for  meals, 
but  by  a  refinement  of  cruelty  they  were  expected  to  clean  the 
machinery  at  such  times.  Falling  asleep  at  their  work  they  were 
beaten  by  overseers  or  injured  by  falling  against  the  machinery. 
In  this  inhuman  regime  there  was  no  time  or  strength  left  for  edu- 
cation or  recreation  or  healthy  development  of  any  kind.  The  moral 
atmosphere  in  which  the  children  worked  was  harmful  in  the  ex- 
treme. Physically,  intellectually,  morally,  the  result  could  only  be 
stunted  human  beings. 

This  monstrous  system  was  defended  by  political  economists, 
manufacturers,  and  statesmen  in  the  name  of  individual  liberty, 
in  whose  name,  moreover,  crimes  have  often  been  committed,  the 
liberty  of  the  manufacturer  to  conduct  his  business  without  inter- 
ference from  outside,  the  liberty  of  the  laborer  to  sell  his  labor 
under  whatever  conditions  he  may  be  disposed  or,  as  might  more 
properly  be  said,  compelled  to  accept.  A  Parliament,  however, 
which  had  been  so  sensitive  to  the  wrongs  of  negro  slaves  in 
Jamaica,  could  not  be  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  English  children. 
Thus  the  long  efforts  of  many  English  humanitarians,  Robert  Owen, 
Thomas  Sadler,  Fielden,  Lord  Ashley,  resulted  in  a  passage  of  the 
Factory  Act  of  1833,  which  prohibited  the  employment  in  spinning 
and  weaving  factories  of  children  under  nine,  made  a  maximum 


26 


TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


rr 


eight-hour  day  for  those  nine  to  thirteen,  and  of  twelve  for  those 
from  thirteen  to  eighteen.  This  was  a  very  modest  beginning,  yet 

it  represented  a  very  great 
advance  on  the  preceding 
policy  of  England.  It  was 
the  first  of  a  series  of  acts 
regulating  the  conditions  of 
laborers  in  the  interests  of 
society  as  a  whole,  acts 
which  have  become  more 
numerous,  more  minute, 
and  more  drastic  from  1833 
to  the  present  day.  The 
idea  that  an  employer  may 
conduct  his  business  entirely 
as  he  likes  has  no  standing 
in  modern  English  law. 
(6:  441-442) 

Nine  years  later  Par- 
liament passed  similar 
legislation  regulating  the 
employment  of  women 
and  children  in  mines. 
Speaking  of  this  action 
Hazen  says : 

One  of  the  most  famous 
parliamentary  reports  of  the 
nineteenth  century  was  that 
of  a  commission  appointed 
to  investigate  the  conditions 
in  mines.  Published  in  1842, 
its  amazing  revelations  re- 
volted public  opinion  and  led 
to  quick  action.  It  showed 

that  children  of  five,  six,  seven  years  of  age  were  employed  under- 
ground in  coal  mines,  girls  as  well  as  boys;  that  women  as  well 
as  men  labored  under  conditions  fatal  to  health  and  morals;  that 


BOY  WORKING  IN  A  COTTON  FACTORY 

Contrast  (i)  the  mechanical  perfection  and 
enormous  economy  of  human  energy  repre- 
sented by  the  machinery  with  (2)  the  waste  of 
human  development  represented  by  the  un- 
educated boy  wearing  his  life  away  in  the 
"  maddening  racket  of  the  machinery  " 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  27 

the  hours  were  long,  twelve  or  fourteen  a  day,  and  the  dangers 
great.  They  were  veritable  beasts  of  burden,  dragging  and  pushing 
carts  on  hands  and  knees  along  narrow  and  low  passageways,  in 
which  it  was  impossible  to  stand  erect.  Girls  of  eight  or  ten  carried 
heavy  buckets  of  coal  on  their  backs  up  steep  ladders  many  times 
a  day.  The  revelations  were  so  astounding  and  sickening  that  a 
law  was  passed  in  1842  which  forbade  the  employment  of  women 
and  girls  in  mines,  and  which  permitted  the  employment  of  boys 
of  ten  for  only  three  days  a  week.  (6 :  449) 

Broadening  elementary  education  thus  rests  on  broad 
humanitarian  social  basis.  —  These  quotations  concerning 
English  child-labor  legislation  put  us  into  the  social  atmos- 
phere of  humanitarian  effort  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
They  help  us  to  view  the  educational  efforts  of  these  same 
humanitarians  as  merely  one  phase  of  a  broad  social  move- 
ment for  improving  the  condition  of  the  masses  of  the 
people.  They  help  us  to  realize  the  broad  basis  for  social 
improvement  upon  which  the  movement  for  a  oroader  ele- 
mentary education  rests.  In  contrast  with  the  narrow  other- 
worldly aim  of  the  Puritans,  which  resulted  merely  in  training 
children  to  read  the  Bible  in  order  to  avoid  future  damna- 
tion, we  see  modern  humanitarians  concerning  themselves 
very  vitally  with  the  present  happiness  and  development  of 
children  for  the  benefit  of  society  as  a  whole. 

Humanitarianism  cooperates  with  democracy  to  benefit 
the  masses  through  broader  education.  —  Thus  we  find  two 
powerful  lines  of  influence  cooperating  to  broaden  the  scope 
of  elementary  education ;  namely,  democratic  government,  by 
the  people  and  for  the  people,  and  practical  humanitarian- 
ism,  which  endeavors  to  improve  the  lot  of  the  multitudes 
in  all  possible  ways. 

Industrial  revolution.  Increases  social  interdependence 
and  gives  power  to  organized  labor.  —  The  third  influence 
which  we  shall  note  in  the  broadening  of  the  purposes  of 
elementary  schools  is  the  development  of  the  factory  system. 


28 


TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


The  sum  total  of  industrial  changes  resulting  during  the 
nineteenth  century  from  the  factory  system  is  known  as  the 
Industrial  Revolution.  We  shall  emphasize  here  merely  two 
features  of  this  revolution  :  first,  the  increasing  interdepend- 
ence of  people  and  the  consequent  necessity  of  organizing 

a  broader  elementary 
education  to  prepare  for 
this  interdependence, 
and,  second,  the  in- 
creasing power  of  or- 
ganized labor,  which,  in 
its  influence,  cooperates 
with  democracy  and  hu- 
manitarianism  to  make 
elementary  education 
benefit  people  to  the 
fullest  degree. 

The  history  of  the 
factory  system. — The 
factory  system  and  the 
Industrial  Revolution 
grew  out  of  the  exten- 
sive use  of  automatic 
power  machinery  in 
manufacturing.  It  be- 
gan in  England  with 
the  invention  of  auto- 
matic machinery  for  spinning  and  weaving  (1770-1790).  At 
first  this  was  driven  by  water  power  and  tended  to  develop 
manufacturing  centers  near  waterfalls.  Very  soon  the  inven- 
tion of  the  steam  engine  made  it  possible  to  locate  factories 
wherever  coal  could  be  transported  conveniently.  As  a  con- 
sequence textile  factories  developed  very  rapidly  (1792-1830) 
and  resulted  in  the  growth  of  many  large  manufacturing 
cities.  The  corresponding  development  of  textile  factories 


SAMUEL  SLATER 

The  cotton  factory  erected  by  him  in  Rhode  Island 

in  1790  marks  the  birth  year  of  the  factory  system 

in  America.  See  page  29 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  29 

in  America  and  their  effect  on  home  industries  is  concretely 
set  forth  by  Tryon  in  the  following  paragraphs  : 

While  spinning  machinery  was  used  in  Philadelphia  as  early  as 
1775  and  the  common  jenny  and  stock  card  were  in  operation  in 
various  parts  of  the  country  before  1790,  yet  this  latter  date  is 
generally  accepted  as  the  birth  year  of  the  factory  system  in  the 
United  States.  It  was  in  this  year  that  Samuel  Slater  erected  at 
Pawtucket,  Rhode  Island,  a  cotton  factory,  which  was  supplied  with 
spinning  machinery  on  the  English  plan.  Soon  after  the  success 
of  this  mill  had  been  demonstrated,  others  were  erected  in  New 
England  and  throughout  other  sections  of  the  country  as  well. 
These  mills  spun  yarn  and  thread  for  distribution  to  the  families 
of  the  neighborhood  to  be  woven  into  the  cloth  they  needed  for 
themselves  or  which  they  desired  to  sell.  If  there  chanced  to  be 
no  mill  in  the  neighborhood,  a  supply  could  be  secured  at  the  store 
in  exchange  for  cotton,  wool,  and  other  farm  products.  The  yarn 
was  not  expensive  and  it  proved  a  great  convenience  to  the  house- 
wives, since  its  use  enormously  diminished  their  labors.  Spinning 
mills  became  so  common  throughout  the  country  that  it  is  proper 
to  speak  of  a  mill  stage  in  connection  with  the  rise  of  textile  manu- 
factures in  any  given  section.  The  New  England  and  middle  states 
passed  through  such  a  stage  between  1790  and  1820,  the  Southern 
states  between  1812  and  1830,  and  the  Ohio  Valley  states  between 
1830  and  1860. 

The  completion  of  the  textile-manufacturing  system  came  with 
the  introduction  of  the  power  loom.  This  important  event  hap- 
pened in  1815,  at  Waltham,  Massachusetts,  thirty  years  after  its 
invention  by  Cartwright.  While  there  had  been  factories  run  en- 
tirely independently  of  the  homes  before  this  date,  yet  the  intro- 
duction of  such  a  tremendous  time-  and  labor-saver,  in  the  matter 
of  cloth-weaving,  ushered  in  a  period  of  independence  never  before 
known.  The  establishments  could  now  individually  employ  all  the 
various  processes  in  the  manufacture  of  cloth,  from  the  receipt  of 
the  raw  material  to  the  production  of  the  finished  web.  Thus  the 
factory  system  proper  came  into  existence  in  this  country.  While 
it  had  a  hard  time  during  the  decade  from  1815  to  1825  on  ac- 
count of  foreign  competition,  lack  of  capital,  inferior  machinery, 


30          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

lack  of  skilled  labor,  and  a  coarse  quality  of  raw  materials,  yet  at 
the  same  time  by  1830  the  system  was  sufficiently  established  in 
New  England,  the  middle  states,  and  certain  centers  in  the  West 
to  assure  a  future  independence  of  foreign  manufactures  for  the 
various  fabrics  in  domestic  use,  and  to  relieve  the  housewives  of  a 
great  deal  of  the  strenuous  labor  which  their  foremothers  had  been 
obliged  to  perform.  For  when  the  price  of  the  ordinary  brown 


ENGLISH   MACHINERY  FOR  CARDING,   DRAWING,   ROVING,  AND  .SPIN- 
NING AS  INTRODUCED   IN  AMERICA   BY  SAMUEL   SLATER   IN  1790 

Contrast  the  mechanical  economy  of  this  factory  with  the  slow  hand  processes 
shown  in  the  picture  on  page  14 

shirting  was  reduced  from  42  to  7^  cents  a  yard  between  1815 
and  1830,  there  was  little  inducement  for  one  to  labor  all  day  at 
the  loom  to  weave  four  yards  of  such  cloth.  The  housewives  could 
no  longer  compete  against  a  system  which  made  it  possible  for 
one  man  tending  three  or  four  power  looms  to  turn  out  from  90  to 
1 60  yards  a  day.  (8  :  274-276) 

Contrast  colonial  home-industry  situation  and  modern 
industrial  society.  — The  final  sentences  of  the  above  quota- 
tion illustrate  two  striking  features  of  the  factory  system  : 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  31 

first,  its  economy,  which  has  resulted  in  greatly  reducing 
the  labor  of  human  beings  and  in  increasing  their  leisure ; 
second,  the  dependence  of  people  upon  others  for  supply- 
ing most  of  their  needs.  Consequently  we  find  the  strongest 
contrast  between  life  in  the  city  homes  of  the  present  day 
and  life  in  the  rural  homes  of  colonial  New  England  before 
the  Industrial  Revolution.  In  these  rural  homes  boys  and 
girls  secured  a  many-sided  industrial  and  social  training  for 
meeting  their  own  needs  for  food,  clothing,  and  shelter. 
They  were  busy  most  of  the  time.  In  the  cities  to-day  the 
children,  particularly  the  boys,  have  little  to  do  in  the  homes ; 
they  are  dependent  upon  many  agencies  far  and  near  for 
their  food,  clothing,  and  shelter,  and  they  have  much  leisure 
time  to  employ  in  devious  ways. 

Education  for  industrial  interdependence  and  for  leisure. 
—  Consequently  the  task  of  the  school  in  training  children 
for  complete  living  is  correspondingly  increased.  It  includes 
not  only  training  for  enlightened  democratic  political  citizen- 
ship but  also  training  for  a  broad  understanding  of  our 
interdependent  industrial  life  and  for  the  harmless  enjoy- 
ment of  the  increased  social  leisure  which  the  economies  of 
the  factory  system  have  created. 

Interdependent  industrial  society  gives  power  to  organized 
labor.  —  This  interdependence  and  leisure  is  being  empha- 
sized by  a  by-product  of  the  Industrial  Revolution,  namely, 
organized  labor,  the  power  of  which  is  constantly  increasing. 
The  fundamental  social  cause  of  the  increasing  power  of 
organized  labor  is  the  intricate  interdependence  resulting 
from  the  specialization  of  industry  and  the  division  of  labor. 
City  dwellers  are  entirely  dependent  on  the  labor  of  distant 
farmers  for  their  food  and  of  distant  miners  for  the  coal 
which  heats  their  homes  and  furnishes  power  for  their  indus- 
tries. Hence,  if  the  miners  strike  for  a  long  time,  millions 
of  persons  must  go  heatless  and  workless.  Perhaps  the  most 
effective  example  of  this  interdependence  of  people  at  the 


32          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

present  time,  and  the  resulting  power  of  organized  labor,  is 
found  in  the  railroads.  If  the  railroads  stop  running  for  a 
long  time  people  will  not  only  go  heatless  and  workless  but 
many  will  starve.  The  organized  railway  workers  appreciate 
their  strategic  social  position  and  often  make  use  of  it  to 
improve  their  lot. 

Organised  labor  aims  to  increase  wages,  leisure,  and  happi- 
ness of  workers.  —  Whatever  may  be  the  ultimate  outcome 
of  the  social  power  of  organized  labor,  the  historical  fact  is 
that  this  power  is  continually  being  used  to  increase  the 
profits  of  labor  from  industry  and  to  reduce  the  hours  of 
labor,  thus  resulting  in  increased  leisure  time  for  the  work- 
man. The  ultimate  social  benefit  for  which  the  conscientious 
unions  seem  to  be  striving  is  increased  happiness  for  their 
members.  As  organized  labor  secures  political  power,  it  tends 
to  use  this  for  the  same  purpose  as  it  does  its  union  power 
—  namely,  to  increase  the  happiness  of  its  members.  These 
efforts  have  often  resembled  in  purpose  the  efforts  of  humani- 
tarians as  illustrated  in  the  English  legislation  concerning 
child  labor  described  above,  on  page  25.  In  America  ex- 
amples of  legislation  influenced  by  labor  interests  are  found 
in  the  eight-hour  law  for  national  employees  and  the  state 
enactments  for  insurance  against  accidents  in  factories.  In 
all  this  legislation  the  increased  happiness  of  the  individuals 
concerned  stands  out :  the  right  of  the  worker  to  leisure  and 
means  of  enjoying  it,  the  right  of  children  to  develop  fully, 
the  right  of  the  injured  to  maintenance.  Thus  "  the  pursuit 
of  happiness"  appears  not  merely  as  one  of  the  "inalienable 
rights  "  of  mankind  but  also  as  one  of  the  most  prominent 
aims  of  positive  governmental  action. 

Increasing  happiness  of  multitudes  becomes  the  aim  of 
democratic  education. — We  have  now  reached  the  final  point 
in  our  story  of  the  social  changes  which  have  resulted  from 
the  combination  of  democratic  government,  humanitarianism, 
and  the  factory  system.  In  this  story  we  brought  out  the 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  33 

prominent  part  played  by  each  of  these  factors  in  the  social 
development  since  the  American  Revolution.  Enlightened 
democratic  government  for  the  people,  humanitarian  efforts 
resulting  in  legislation  for  the  benefit  of  the  masses,  and  the 
use  of  the  power  of  organized  labor  to  increase  the  benefits 
from  the  State  for  the  people,  all  tend  to  emphasize  the  im- 
portance of  the  government  as  an  agency  for  increasing  the 
happiness  of  the  multitudes  of  peoples.  It  follows  naturally 
from  this  fact  that  public  democratic  education,  which  is  but 
one  of  the  functions  of  democratic  government,  also  tends 
to  emphasize  as  its  aim  increasing  the  sum  total  of  happi- 
ness of  individuals.  Increasing  human  happiness  in  this 
ivorld  thus  becomes  the  broad,  inclusive  educational  aim 
under  which  we  can  group  the  greatly  expanded  purposes 
of  education  which  have  replaced  the  narrow,  other-worldly, 
religious  aims  of  the  New  England  Puritans.  The  Puritans 
said  there  are  small  chances  for  happiness  even  in  the  next 
world  :  hell  and  the  devil  are  waiting  to  receive  untold  mil- 
lions ;  only  by  denying  yourself  the  pleasures  of  this  life 
can  you  have  a  chance  for  happiness  in  the  next ;  there- 
fore there  is  no  time  to  pursue  happiness  here.  In  con- 
trast American  democratic  schools  are  prohibited  from 
teaching  religion ;  hence  they  cannot  focus  their  attention 
on  the  future  world,  but  must  prepare  definitely  for  this 
one.  In  this  preparation  their  attention  is  focused  upon  the 
training  of  all  individuals  so  as  to  increase  the  sum  total  of 
happiness  of  all  individuals  in  this  world. 

Happiness  aim  for  multitudes  makes  "  training  for  the 
State"  concrete.  —  Thus  far  we  have  noticed  two  general 
facts  concerning  the  happiness  aim :  first,  it  contrasts 
strongly  with  the  "other-worldly."  aim  of  the  Puritans; 
second,  it  unites  the  efforts  of  democracy,  humanitarianism, 
and  organized  labor.  A  third  point  to  notice  is  that  it  is  a 
guide  to  deciding  what  we  mean  by  "  training  for  service 
to  the  State/'  "The  State"  is  a  very  abstract  term,  and  I 


34         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

must  confess  I  have  often  wondered  just  what  it  means. 
During  the  period  of  despotism  in  France  Louis  XIV 
(r.  1643-1715)  is  reported  to  have  said,  "The  State?  I 
am  the  State."  Very  commonly  the  State  has  been  thought 
of  as  being  the  same  as  the  government.  Recently,  how- 
ever, an  eminent  sociologist l  said  : 

A  state  is  essentially  like  any  other  human  group,  a  bridge 
club,  a  philharmonic  society,  a  merchandising  firm,  a  banking 
corporation,  a  charity  organization,  a  religious  community,  a  coun- 
terfeiters' gang,  an  artists'  guild  —  a  state  is  a  company  of 
persons  behaving  themselves  in  a  certain  way. 

These  uncertainties  concerning  the  meaning  of  "the 
State  "  make  it  undesirable  to  phrase  our  educational  aims 
in  terms  of  such  a  vague  abstraction.  It  is  far  better  to  think 
of  them  in  terms  of  the  more  concrete  objects  of  educa- 
tion, namely,  the  individuals  whom  we  teach  and  their  lives 
in  school  and  after  graduation.  We  have  noted  that 
democracy,  humanitarians,  and  organized  labor  have  focused 
their  attention  on  the  happiness  of  these  concrete  individ- 
uals. We  have  set  up  their  happiness  as  the  aim  of  educa- 
tion. We  shall  now  endeavor  to  find  out  what  we  mean  by 
their  happiness. 

Happiness,  —  the  experience  which  we  desire  for  those 
dear  to  us. —  Like  the  term  "state,"  happiness  is  an 
abstract  idea  that  is  difficult  to  define ;  hence  we  shall  not 
try  to  define  it.  We  shall  content  ourselves  with  suggesting 
that  happiness  is  that  type  of  experience  which  most  of  us 
desire  for  our  mothers  and  fathers,  our  sisters  and  brothers, 
our  children  —  in  general,  for  those  who  are  dear  to  us. 
With  this  idea  as  our  starting  point  we  can  begin  to  work 
back  toward  some  of  the  more  concrete  ideas  about  teach- 
ing with  which  the  chapter  opened.  Our  first  step  will  be 

1  Albion  W.  Small,  "  Americans  and  the  World  Crises,"  American 
Journal  of  Sociology,  September,  1917,  Vol.  XXIII,  p.  171. 


BROADENING   PURPOSES  35 

to  determine  ivhat  arc  the  things  that  loom  large  in  achiev- 
ing the  happiness  of  those  that  are  dear  to  us  and  of  indi- 
viduals in  general.  The  most  prominent  of  these  factors 
are  shown  in  the  following  paragraph. 

Broad  social  aims  of  teaching.  —  The  main  factors  in 
happiness  may  be  regarded  as  the  broad  social  aims  of 
teaching  and  outlined  as  follows : 

1.  Good  health 

2.  Harmless  enjoyment  of  leisure  time 

3.  Good  will 

4.  Social  service 

a.  Business  service 

b.  Home  service 

c.  Civic  service 

We  shall  now  take  up  each  of  the  above  aims  for 
consideration. 

Good  health.  Of  universal  interest  irrespective  of  wealth 
or  position.  —  The  importance  attached  to  good  health  in 
ordinary  life  is  suggested  by  the  common  form  of  greeting, 
"  How  do  you  do  ?  how  are  all  the  folks  ?  "  Not  only  is 
health  the  first  topic  of  conversation  with  many  persons 
but  often  it  is  the  only  topic.  Having  ascertained  from 
one  person  the  facts  concerning  health,  you  walk  on  until 
you  meet  your  next  friend,  and  repeat  the  same  ritual  with 
him.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  any  topic  that  receives  so 
much  thought  and  consideration.  It  concerns  both  rich 
and  poor.  In  this  respect  it  probably  presents  a  more 
prevailing  problem  than  unemployment,  for  while  three 
fourths  of  the  workers  in  America  probably  have  rather 
steady  employment,  the  uncertainties  of  health  are  presented 
to  practically  everybody. 

Distress  from  sickness  popularizes  physicians,  patent 
medicines,  and  mental  healing.  —  Regarded  from  the 
happiness  standpoint,  it  is  obvious  that  ill  health  is  the 
cause  of  enormous  distress  and  suffering.  This  distress 


36         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

extends  not  only  to  the  patient  but  also  causes  great  mental 
distress  to  parents  and  other  relatives.  Loss  of  position  or 
money  often  follows  ill  health,  thus  adding  to  its  train 
of  distresses.  As  a  consequence,  there  is  enormous  social 


Courtesy  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation 

AN  OBJECT  LESSON   IN   HEALTH  INSTRUCTION.    A  SIXTEEN-YEAR  OLD 
GIRL  BEFORE  AND  AFTER  TREATMENT  FOR  THE  HOOKWORM  DISEASE 

See  "  The  Rural  School  and  the  Hookworm  Disease,"  by  W.  A.  Ferrell.   Bulletin 
No.  go  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  1914 

striving  for  good  health,  and  physicians,  patent  medicines, 
and  cults  for  mental  healing  secure  a  large  following. 

Scientific  studies  of  health  consume  much  thought  and 
energy.  —  As  a  subject  for  scientific  study,  health  takes 
high  rank.  There  is  enormous  expenditure  of  human 
thought  and  energy  in  scientific  researches  concerning  it. 


PUBLIC  HEALTH 

•  Hookworm  Work    . 

*  Malaria  Work 

D  Yellow  Fever  Work 
•f  Tuberculosis  Work. 
A  Infantile  Paralysis  Care 
O  Public  Health  Education 
8  Medical  Research 


MEDICAL  EDUCATION 
®  Medical  Schools  Aided 

WAR  WORK 
+  War  Relief ' 

Aid  to  Red  Cross  and 
Camp  Community  Agencies 
is  not  Shown 


Courtesy  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation 

INTERNATIONAL,  SCIENTIFIC,  MISSIONARY   HEALTH  ACTIVITIES  OF 
THE  ROCKEFELLER  FOUNDATION 

A  corresponding  map  for  Asia  and  Australia  depicts  similar  activities  of  the  "  Inter- 
national Health  Board  "  of  the  Foundation  in  its  efforts  to  "  promote  the  well-being 
of  mankind  throughout  the  world."    (See  page  38) 


38         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

The  amount  of  health  investigation  that  is  carried  on  in  the 
laboratories  of  great  universities  is  incomprehensible  to 
most  persons ;  for  example,  The  University  of  Chicago, 
already  equipped  with  several  large  laboratory  buildings  in 
which  instruction  and  investigations  are  carried  on  in  anat- 
omy, physiology,  bacteriology,  and  medicine,  recently  received 
several  million  dollars  for  erecting  further  medical  and  hos- 
pital buildings  and  for  maintaining  research  studies  in  health. 
Scientific-health  missionaries  improve  national  health.  — 
An  impressive  example  of  the  enormous  social  importance 
of  health  is  found  in  the  work  of  the  Rockefeller  Founda- 
tion with  its  endowment  of  $100,000,000  to  promote  the 
"  well-being  of  mankind  throughout  the  world."  Improving 
public  health  in  many  parts  of  the  world  has  been  the  most 
prominent  feature  of  the  work  of  the  Foundation.  The 
attack  on  the  hookworm  disease  is  a  striking  example.  In 
1917  this  attack  was  being  carried  on  in  twenty-five  foreign 
countries  and  twelve  American  states.  The  hookworm  is 
an  intestinal  parasite  which  saps  enormously  the  energy  of 
the  patient.  See  the  picture  on  page  36.  The  enormous 
loss  of  social  energy  from  the  hookworm  disease  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  in  one  region  in  China  where  the  Founda- 
tion is  at  work,  about  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  mining  and 
agricultural  coolies  were  infected.  Yet  with  proper  sanitary 
devices  and  instruction  the  disease  in  any  neighborhood  can 
be  eradicated.  Malaria  is  another  socially  wasteful  disease 
that  the  Foundation  is  seeking  to  eradicate  in  the  South 
through  drainage  and  screening  to  avoid  the  malarial- 
breeding  mosquito  and  through  curing  the  infected  persons. 
In  an  Arkansas  town  where  the  efforts  centered  in  exter- 
minating the  mosquito  by  proper  drainage,  tlic  number  of 
doctors  calls  for  malaria  fell  from  six  hundred  in  October, 
1915,  to  fourteen  in  the  same  month  in  1917.  Tuberculosis 
in  France  has  also  been  attacked  by  the  Foundation,  as 
illustrated  in  the  poster  on  page  39. 


COMBATTEZ  LAiUBEROlLOSE 


COMMENT  ELLE    SE  PROPAGE 


LES  ALLIES 

DE  LA  TUBERCULOSE 


LES    ENNEMIS 

DE    LA  TUBERCULOSE 


LES  RAVAGES  DE  LA  TUBERCULOSE 
COMPARES  A  CEUX  DES  AUTRES 
MALADIES 


PRECAUTIONS  ou'unTUBERCULEUX  DOIT  PRENDRE 


COHBATTEZ  LAiUBERCULOSE 


Courtesy  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation 

PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION  CONCERNING  TUBERCULOSIS    ILLUSTRATED   BY 
POSTER  USED   BY  ROCKEFELLER   FOUNDATION   IN   FRANCE 

Try  your  French  on  this  poster.    If  you  don't  read  French,  notice  how  much  you 

can  decipher  through  similarity  of  English  words  —  combat,  allies,  enemies,  ravages, 

precautions,  etc. 


40         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Ignorance  and  superstition  of  laity  contrast  with  scientific 
studies  of  health.  —  Yet  with  all  this  scientific  effort  and 
achievement  many  persons  who  merely  go  through  the 
elementary  schools  remain  in  a  state  of  ignorance  and  super- 
stition concerning  health.  For  example,  at  one  extreme  we 
find  the  lady  whom  I  heard  the  other  day  complaining, 
"  I  have  just  taken  everything,  and  nothing  does  me  any 
good  "  ;  while  at  the  opposite  extreme  are  those  who  deny 
that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  ill  health  and  refuse  to 
"take"  anything  or  do  anything  but  think.  Even  such  a 
common  object  as  the  clinical  thermometer,  which  phy- 
sicians use  to  ascertain  the  temperature  of  patients,  is  a 
weird  and  uncomprehended  thing  to  most  of  the  laity,  yet 
its  use  is  simplicity  personified  compared  to  the  intricacies 
of  an  automobile  or  a  typewriter. 

Learn  by  reading  some  nontechnical  discussions  of  health. 
—  Sufficient  has  been  said  to  demonstrate  the  importance 
of  the  health  aim  in  human  happiness.  The  reason  for 
saying  so  much  was  the  necessity  of  making  teachers  realize 
its  importance  as  compared  with  other  educational  aims.  In 
order  that  you  may  start  to  replace  common  superstition  and 
ignorance  with  simple  scientific  facts  about  health,  I  suggest 
that  you  read  the  book  entitled  "  How  to  Live,"  written  by 
Fisher  and  Fiske  and  published  by  Funk  and  Wagnalls 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Life  Extension  Insti- 
tute. The  latter  is  a  national  organization  for  improving 
American  health.  Its  head  is  ex-President  Taft.  If  you 
will  write  it  for  a  catalogue  of  its  publications  you  will  be 
placed  in  touch  with  much  health  literature  and  information 
which  will  benefit  you  and  your  pupils.  Address  The  Life 
Extension  Institute,  New  York  City. 

Health  ivork  in  schools :  inspection,  relief,  instruction.  — 
As  a  consequence  of  the  increased  appreciation  by  social 
leaders  of  the  importance  of  health  as  a  factor  in  human 
welfare  and  happiness,  public  provision  for  health  work  in 


Courtesy  of  the  Elizabeth  McCo 
THE  OPEN-AIR  SMILE 


Illustrating  care  of  tubercular  children  in  open-air  schools.   Compare  the  autobiog- 
raphy of  another  open-air  pupil  on  page  42 


42         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

schools  has  made  enormous  progress  in  recent  years.  Most 
large  school  systems  now  provide  for  periodical  inspection 
of  the  pupils  by  school  physicians,  dentists,  and  nurses ; 
for  free  treatment  of  special  defects  of  poor  children,  such 
as  defective  teeth  or  tonsils ;  for  improved  training  in  health 
knowledge  and  health  behavior. 

One  of  the  most  unique  features  of  such  health  work  in 
public  schools  is  the  maintenance  of  open-air  schools  for 
tubercular  children.  The  following  story  was  written  by  such 
a  child  for  the  Opcn-Air  Smile,  a  monthly  periodical  started 
by  the  children  of  the  Chicago  open-air  schools. 

I  was  born  in  a  little  gray  house  in  a  little  country  town  near 
the -city  of  Kiev.  When  I  was  two  years  old  my  downfall  began. 
First  1  fell  sick  and  had  the  scarlet  fever,  and  as  soon  as  I  was 
cured  of  that  I  caught  diphtheria,  and  after  I  was  cured  of  that 
I  caught  pneumonia.  I  stayed  in  bed  for  a  year  and  I  never  got 
out  of  bed  for  that  long  time.  When  I  was  six  years  old  I  came 
to  America  to  the  city  of  Chicago.  Everybody  had  told  us  in 
Russia  that  gold  was  lying  everywhere  in  the  streets.  I  started  to 
go  to  school  at  the  Garfield  School.  Later  we  moved  to  a  different 
street,  so  I  took  a  transfer  to  the  Langland  School,  and  later  on 
we  moved  again,  and  then  I  came  to  the  Goodrich  School,  which 
I  attended  a  couple  of  years.  When  I  was  finally  in  the  seventh 
grade  I  was  sent  out  to  Winfield  tuberculosis  camp.  I  stayed 
there  six  months  because  I  was  charged  with  having  tuberculosis. 
Those  six  months  passed  away  so  quickly  that  it  seemed  like  six 
weeks.  I  think  it  was  the  happiest  time  of  my  life  staying  out 
there.  When  I  went  home  hardly  anybody  recognized  me,  because 
I  was  not  the  sick  little  fellow  that  I  was  when  I  went  to  Winfield, 
but  a  big,  strong,  and  healthy  boy  with  cheeks  like  roses.  Later 
on  I  was  put  in  the  Foster  open-air  room,  where  I  am  now  in  the 
eighth  grade.  (11) 

Harmless  enjoyment  of  leisure  time.  Easily  explained  by 
increased  leisure  in  modern  industrial  society.  —  Our  second 
purpose  in  an  education  which  aims  to  increase  human  happi- 
ness is  training  for  harmless  enjoyment.  This  would  need 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  43 

almost  as  elaborate  a  discussion  as  health,  had  we  not  already 
presented  on  pages  27-32  the  historical  facts  about  modern 
industrial  society.  There  it  was  shown  that  the  leisure  of  the 
city  youth  presents  a  serious  problem  to  the  school  and  that 
humanitarians  and  labor  organizations  have  so  reduced  the 
hours  of  labor  that  leisure  is  occupying  an  increasingly  large 
part  of  the  time  of  ordinary  adults.  As  a  consequence  enjoy- 
ment of  leisure  becomes  a  large  factor  in  life.  While 
Puritanical-minded  persons  might  regard  such  an  aim  as 
reprehensible,  it  is  obvious  that  when  we  consider  the  hap- 
piness of  those  dear  to  us  we  place  a  large  value  on  their 
enjoyment  of  leisure  activities.  For  many  persons,  during 
the  winter  months,  reading,  music,  and  the  drama  furnish 
their  leisure  pursuits.  As  they  become  better  educated, 
thinking  about  and  discussing  problems  of  the  day  enter  in. 
During  warm  weather  outdoor  activities  play  a  large  part 
with  certain  classes.  As  a  rule  these  lines  of  enjoyment  are 
harmless.  There  are  many  persons,  however,  particularly 
youths,  who  spend  their  leisure  in  activities  that  are 
positively  harmful  to  themselves  and  to  others.  The  prob- 
lems of  training  all  persons  for  harmless  enjoyment  which 
are  suggested  by  these  facts  are  being  given  serious  con- 
sideration by  the  greatest  social  workers  of  America.  For 
example,  Jane  Addams  of  the  Hull  House  Social  Settlement, 
Chicago,  is  quoted  as  saying  : 

We  have  no  [adequate]  sense  of  responsibility  in  regard  to  the 
pleasures  of  young  people,  and  continually  forget  that  amusement 
is  stronger  than  vice  and  it  alone  can  stifle  the  lust  for  it.  We  see 
all  about  us  much  vice  which  is  merely  a  love  for  pleasure  "  gone 
wrong  "  —  the  illicit  expression  of  what  might  have  been  not  only 
normal  and  recreative  pleasure  but  an  instrument  in  the  advance 
of  higher  social  morality. 

In  progressive  elementary  schools,  beginning  in  the  kin- 
dergarten and  continuing  throughout  the  grades,  training 
for  harmless  recreation  is  being  provided  in  many  forms,  — 


44         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

in  rhythmic  activities,  in  plays  and  games,  in  unison  singing 
of  lilting,  haunting  melodies,  in  dramatic  activities,  and  in 
wide  reading  "  just  for  fun." 

Good  will.  Long  emphasized  by  churches  and  moral 
leaders,  —  Our  third  broad  social  aim,  namely,  good  will, 
needs  little  discussion  because  most  readers  have  heard  it 
emphasized  frequently  in  church  or  in  school.  Selfishness, 
which  is  the  opposite  of  good  will,  is  one  of  the  chief 
hindrances  in  increasing  the  happiness  of  the  multitudes. 
In  order  to  increase  happiness  in  general  each  individual 
needs  to  be  trained  (i)  not  to  interfere  with  the  happiness 
of  other  well-intentioned,  well-behaved  persons,  (2)  to  wish 
others  well,  and  (3)  positively  to  endeavor  to  increase  the 
happiness  of  others.  This  does  not  imply  that  his  whole 
life  should  be  one  of  self-sacrifice,  but  it  does  mean  that 
consideration  for  the  rights  and  welfare  of  others  should  be 
an  important  factor  in  guiding  his  life,  in  determining  his 
decisions  and  behavior. 

Social  service.  Efficiency  in  supplying  the  wants  of  inter- 
dependent society.  —  The  final  broad  social  aim  we  have 
called  social  service.  By  social  service  in  America  we  mean 
doing  efficiently  something  that  is  valued  in  the  inter- 
dependent, democratic  industrial  society  described  earlier  in 
the  chapter.  To  be  of  service  or  to  succeed  in  such  an 
interdependent  society  one  must  be  able  to  do  efficiently 
something  which  this  society  wants  done.  Some  of  the 
wants  or  needs  of  society  were  suggested  above,  namely, 
the  need  for  food,  the  need  for  coal,  the  need  for  trans- 
portation. The  interdependence  of  people  to-day  in  supplying 
these  needs  gives  meaning  to  the  term  "social"  in  this  aim. 
Meaning  is  given  to  the  term  "service"  when  we  think  of 
it  as  it  is  used  in  modern  business  advertising.  Whole  pages 
of  current  magazines  are  used  in  advertising  "John  Blank ville 
Service."  Automobile  manufacturers  feature  not  only  their 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  45 

cars  but  their  "service."  Service  thus  suggests  doing  for 
people  what  they  need  done  when  they  need  it,  giving  them 
efficiently  what  they  want  when  they  want  it.  It  is  obvious 
that  the  effective  satisfying  of  the  needs  and  wants  of  people 
contributes  enormously  to  their  happiness ;  hence  social 
service  is  an  important  educational  aim. 

Business  set  vice,  home  service,  and  dine  sendee  are 
easily  understood.  —  In  the  outline  on  page  35  we  divided 
social  service  into  three  types,  —  business  service,  home 
service,  and  civic  service.  Business  service  is  the  form 
through  which  most  persons  make  their  living.  Home 
service  is  that  important  service  which  consumes  the  energy 
of  so  many  women.  Civic  service  includes  many  forms  of 
governmental  employment,  such  as.  public-school  teaching, 
as  well  as  the  occasional  but  very  important  service  which 
citizens  render  in  voting  and  in  inspecting  public  works  and 
affairs.  It  is  a  simple  matter  to  translate  into  terms  of  train- 
ing for  business  service,  home  service,  and  civic  service 
many  of  the  concrete  activities  of  elementary  schools. 

Translate  broader  social  aims  into  detailed  psychological 
aims.  — Thus  we  have  described  the  broader  social  purposes 
of  a  democratic  education  which  aims  to  increase  human 
happiness.  We  endeavored  to  prepare  for  an  understanding 
of  these  purposes  by  telling  first  the  story  of  how  they 
grew  out  of  the  profound  social  changes  paralleling  the 
development  of  modern  democracy,  humanitarianism,  and 
the  factory  system.  As  thus  presented  they  stand  in  sharpest 
contrast  with  the  narrow  other-worldly  aims  of  the  Puritan 
colonists.  We  shall  now  proceed  to  consider  certain  more 
detailed  aims  of  teaching  which  we  can  use  to  bridge  our 
thinking  from  the  broader  social  activities  to  the  results 
that  we  want  to  produce  from  day  to  day  in  each  boy  and 
girl.  Since  we  shall  be  focusing  our  attention  now,  not  on 
society  at  large,  but  on  each  individual  pupil,  we  shall  call 


46         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

this  set  of  aims  the  detailed  psychological  aims  of  teaching. 
In  order  to  make  our  whole  scheme  of  aims  and  purposes 
clear,  both  social  and  psychological  aims  are  shown  in  the 
following  outline : 

Broader  social  aims  Detailed  psychological  aims 

1.  Good  health  i.  Information 

2.  Harmless  enjoyment  2.  Habits 

3.  Good  will  3.  Ideals 

4.  Social  service  4.  Many-sided  interests 

a.  Business 

b.  Home 

c.  Civic 

As  stated  above,  each  of  the  psychological  aims  refers  to 
specific  results  that  we  want  to  produce  from  day  to  day  in 
each  boy  and  girl.  Naturally  each  one  of  these  specific 
results  must  be  clearly  useful  in  attaining  the  broader  social 
aims  outlined  in  the  other  column.  For  example,  the  reader 
might  try  to  show  to  which  of  the  broader  social  aims  each 
of  the  following  items  contributes : 

1.  The  informational  facts  "three  feet  equal  one  yard" 
and  "  Washington  is  the  capital  of  the  United  States." 

2.  The  habits  of  "  keeping  things  in  order,"  "  keeping 
the  teeth   clean,"   and  "  beginning  each   sentence   with   a 
capital  letter." 

3.  Many  of  the  ideals  expressed  in  Benjamin  Franklin's 
sayings,  such  as  "Early  to  bed"  etc.,  and  all  of  those  in 
Lincoln's  Gettysburg  address. 

4.  Abiding  interests  in  reading  about  current  events,  in 
discussing  civic  problems,  in  learning  about  industrial  con- 
ditions, in  following  scientific  progress,  in  keeping  in  touch 
with  literature,  music,  and  the  drama. 

We  are  justified  in  feeling  sure  of  the  values  of  these 
matters  because  it  is  easy  to  show  that  they  do  contribute 
to  health,  harmless  enjoyment,  good  will,  or  social  service. 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  47 

The  usefulness  of  the  detailed  psychological  aims  in  guid- 
ing our  thinking  about  teaching  will  become  more  apparent 
as  we  read  later  chapters.  At  this  point  only  a  few  com- 
ments will  be  made  on  each. 

Information  important,  but  its  exclusive  emphasis  is  to 
b3  avoided.  —  Information  in  arithmetic,  geography,  and  his- 
tory has  commonly  been  emphasized  in  elementary  schools, 
often  to  the  neglect  of  ideals  and  abiding  interests.  This  is 
partially  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  easy  to  put  children  to  work 
acquiring  information  and  easy  to  devise  tests  or  examina- 
tions to  determine  whether  they  have  learned  it.  It  is  much 
more  difficult  to  develop  abiding  interests  or  ideals  in  each 
child  and  to  test  him  to  see  if  he  has  them. 

The  overemphasis  on  information  has  often  led  to  an 
extreme  reaction  against  requiring  children  to  learn  any 
exact  facts.  This  neglect  is  just  as  unreasonable  as  over- 
emphasis. In  all  forms  of  social  service, — business,  home, 
or  civic,  —  reliable  technical  information  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  efficiency.  In  matters  of  health,  the  appalling  loss 
of  life  from  preventable  diseases,  such  as  tuberculosis,  and 
the  widespread  distress  from  poor  feeding  are  striking  ex- 
amples of  the  supreme  value  and  need  of  education  which 
emphasizes  reliable  scientific  information.  Special  discus- 
sions of  the  principles  of  teaching  information  will  be  given 
in  the  chapters  on  subject  matter  and  apperception. 

Habits  include  skills  and  specific  and  general  habits.  - 
The  habits  most  commonly  emphasized  in  elementary  schools 
have  been  the  automatic  skills,  such  as  handwriting  and 
skill  in  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication,  and  division. 
As  in  the  case  of  information,  these  skills  are  very  tangible 
and  are  easily  tested  ;  hence  the  emphasis  upon  them. 

Next  in  order  come  certain  special  habits,  such  as  the 
habit  of  checking  one's  problems  to  see  if  they  are  correct, 
or  the  habit  of  running  on  tiptoe  in  the  kindergarten,  or  the 
habits  of  putting  specific  materials  away  in  their  proper  places. 


48         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Finally  we  have  certain  general  habits  of  which  perhaps 
the  most  important  and  most  tangible  is  the  habit  of  ivide, 
rapid  reading.  The  habit  basis  for  rapid  reading  is  well 
started  in  good  elementary  schools  by  the  end  of  the  fourth 
or  fifth  grade,  and  later  teaching  tends  to  broaden  it  in  the 
direction  of  a  permanent  habit  of  wide  reading.  Somewhat 
less  tangible  than  the  reading  habit  are  such  habits  as  those 
listed  under  kindergarten  purposes  on  page  18,  above; 
namely,  noninterference  with  others,  self-control,  working 
for  a  remote  end,  obedience.  In  many  phases  of  teaching, 
notably  in  drill,  reading,  writing,  problem-solving,  harmless 
enjoyment,  expression,  and  moral  training,  the  formation  of 
habits  is  a  prominent  process. 

Ideals ;  for  personal  efficiency  and  good  will.  —  Exam- 
ples of  ideals  were  suggested  above  in  connection  with 
Benjamin  Franklin's  sayings ;  for  instance,  one  of  my  stu- 
dents stated  that  she  always  troubled  her  mother  by  lying 
late  in  bed  until  she  read  Poor  Richard's  "  Early  to  bed 
and  early  to  rise  makes  a  man  healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise." 
Thereupon  she  began  to  make  this  a  rule  and  had  observed 
it  ever  since.  A  kindergarten  child  may  form  the  ideal,  "  It 's 
nice  to  be  able  to  put  on  your  own  coat  and  rubbers  "  ;  a 
first-grade  child  the  ideal,  "  It 's  nice  to  be  a  good  helper  — 
I  want  to  be  a  good  helper  "  ;  and  a  second-grade  child  the 
ideal,  "  It  isn't  fair  to  keep  the  rest  of  the  class  waiting  for 
me."  These  simple  examples  suggest  that  the  teaching  of 
ideals  should  be  closely  connected  with  the  behavior  and 
habits  of  the  pupils  in  school  and  should  proceed  step  by 
step  from  the  more  concrete  matters  such  as  "  putting  on 
coat  and  rubbers  "  to  the  more  abstract  general  ideals  such 
as  "  being  on  time  "  and  "  being  fair."  The  development  of 
such  ideals  as  contribute  to  personal  efficiency,  and  the 
formation  of  moral  ideals  as  the  basis  of  active  good  will, 
are  among  the  most  important  functions  of  elementary- 
school  teaching. 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  49 

Many-sided  abiding  interests ;  determining  permanent  lines 
of  desire.  —  Finally  we  may  note  what  is  meant  by  the 
fourth  psychological  aim,  namely,  many-sided  interests.  By 
interests  here  we  mean  the  permanent  lines  of  desire  which 
determine  to  a  very  large  extent  a  person's  choices  in  life. 
An  example  of  the  building  up  of  such  a  desire  is  found 
in  the  contrast  between  my  own  experience  with  the  Bible 
and  that  of  my  little  boy.  Such  Bible  reading  as  I  heard 
as  a  child  was  mere  Bible  reading,  nothing  else,  and  its 
meaningless  abstractness  made  it  repulsive  to  me.  My  son's 
first  experience  with  Biblical  material  happened  to  be  through 
reading,  at  seven  years  of  age,  James  Baldwin's  "  Old 
Stories  of  the  East,"  in  which  the  adventures  of  David, 
Joseph,  and  Samson  are  fascinatingly  told  for  second-grade 
or  third-grade  children.  A  large  book  of  illustrations  of 
"Travels  in  Bible  Lands,"  with  maps  of  Asia  Minor,  hap- 
pened to  be  at  hand  for  pleasant  perusal  about  the  same 
time.  Recently,  seeing  Griffith's  moving  picture  "  Intoler- 
ance "  gave  a  vivid  notion  of  the  life  in  Babylon,  of  Bel- 
shazzar's  feast,  of  the  battles  of  the  Persians  and  the 
Babylonians.  Meanwhile,  studies  in  fourth-grade  history  had 
included  thrilling  accounts  of  the  struggles  between  the 
Greeks  and  the  Persians,  of  the  heroic  deeds  at  Thermopylae, 
Marathon,  and  Salamis.  In  the  newspapers  and  illustrated 
magazines  he  has  followed  the  triumphs  of  the  British  in 
Mesopotamia  and  Palestine.  For  his  tenth  birthday,  recently, 
he  received  a  copy  of  L.  E.  Cragin's  "  Old  Testament  Stories 
for  Little  Children,"  in  which  the  familiar  stories  first  read 
in  the  Baldwin,  and  many  others,  are  reproduced  in  more 
Biblical  language,  and  the  picture  of  Belshazzar's  feast 
appears  in  close  resemblance  to  that  seen  in  "  Intolerance." 
Having  devoured  the  Cragin  with  interest,  he  is  waiting 
impatiently  for  an  Old  Testament  which  has  been  promised 
to  him.  Thus  as  a  result  of  a  peculiar  combination  of  adven- 
ture reading,  fourth-grade  history,  the  movies,  and  current 


50         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

events  he  has  developed  an  active  desire,  an  active  "reach- 
ing out,"  for  more  Biblical  reading.  Perhaps  it  may  result 
in  a  permanent  abiding  interest  in  Biblical  matters. 

Many-sidedness  of  interest  to  insure  breadtJi  of  mind  and 
service.  —  Even  casual  consideration  shows  that  such  lines 
of  desire,  such  abiding  interests,  are  factors  of  enormous 
importance  in  determining  one's  behavior  and  happiness. 
The  qualification,  "  many-sidedness,"  suggests  that  the  school 
should  endeavor  to  build  up  in  each  pupil  worthy  lines  of 
desire  or  interests  corresponding  to  all  types  of  human 
experience,  —  interests  in  local  community  affairs,  in  larger 
national  affairs,  in  affairs  of  the  whole  world,  in  health,  in 
industry,  in  science,  in  music,  in  literature,  in  sports  and 
games,  in  all  activities  which  will  tend  to  make  a  broad- 
minded,  efficient,  serviceable,  happy  individual.  Through- 
out all  the  chapters  that  are  to  follow,  this  training  of  the 
many-sided  serviceable  individual  for  happiness  and  com- 
plete living  may  be  kept  in  mind  as  the  ideal  towards  which 
the  broadening  elementary  schools  are  working. 

Conclusion.  —  This  will  conclude  our  discussions  of  the 
broadening  purposes  of  elementary-school  teaching  which 
have  grown  out  of  modern  democracy,  humanitarianism,  and 
the  industrial  revolution.  In  the  next  chapter  we  shall  turn 
to  another  characteristic  feature  of  modern  social  life, 
namely,  scientific  business  management,  and  show  its  applica- 
tion to  classroom  management.  This  discussion  will  seem 
much  more  practical  than  the  present  chapter.  However, 
the  broad  ideas  of  aims  and  purposes  which  have  been  pre- 
sented here  will  serve  as  guides  in  determining  practices 
throughout  the  chapters  that  are  to  follow.  Hence,  before 
leaving  this  chapter  the  reader  is  advised  to  review  the 
main  points  on  page  12,  above,  and  to  memorize  the  outline 
of  social  and  psychological  aims  on  page  46. 


BROADENING  PURPOSES  51 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  beginner  might  read  first,  with  greatest  profit,  the  references 
marked  with  an  asterisk  (*). 

Broadly  interpretative. — *i.  BAGLEY,  W.  C,  and  JUDD,  C.  H. 
Enlarging  the  Elementary  School.  School  Review,  May,  1918,  Vol. 
XXVI,  pp.  313-323.  Emphasizes  enrichment  of  opportunity.  By  two 
of  America's  most  prominent  professors  of  education. 

2.  BOBBITT,  FRANKLIN.  The  Curriculum.  (Houghton  Mifflin  Com- 
pany, 1918.)  The  most  progressive  and  concrete  American  discussion 
of  training  for  occupational  efficiency,  citizenship,  physical  efficiency, 
leisure  occupations,  and  social  intercommunication. 

*3.  DEWEY,  JOHN.  The  School  and  Society.  (The  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1899;  enlarged  1915.)  Chap,  i  contains  a  contrast  of 
colonial  home  life  and  home  life  in  modern  cities.  By  America's  fore- 
most exponent  of  the  "  social  point  of  view  "  in  education. 

*4.  SPENCER,  HERBERT.  Education  (1860).  The  first  essay,  en- 
titled "  What  Knowledge  is  most  Worth,"  contains  his  analysis  of  "  com- 
plete living  "  as  the  aim  of  education.  Spencer  was  a  great  sociologist. 

Critical  discussion  of  aims.  —  4  a.  BAGLEY,  W.  C.  The  Educative 
Process.  (The  Macmillan  Company,  1905.)  Pp.  40-65.  A  notable 
chapter ;  simple,  clear-cut,  well  organized. 

Historical.  —  5.  CUBBERLEY,  E.  P.  Changing  Conception  of  Educa- 
tion. (Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1909.)  Chaps,  i  and  ii.  A  masterly 
interpretation  of  American  social  and  educational  changes  since  the 
colonial  period. 

6.  HAZEN,  C.  D.    Modern  European  History.    (Henry  Holt  and 
Company,   1917.)    Pp.  428-506.    Brilliant  interpretation  of  democratic 
developments  in  England  from  1815  to  the  present.    Vivid  background 
for  similar  democratic  developments  in  education. 

7.  PARKER,   S.    C.     History  of  Modern   Elementary  Education. 
(Ginn  and  Company,  1912.)    Pp.  66-77,  on  narrow  religious  character 
of  colonial  schools  of  New  England;  pp.  227-237,  242-246,  264-267, 
on  philanthropic    provision   for   elementary  schools  in   England   and 
America. 

8.  TRYON,  R.  M.    Household  Manufactures  in  the  United  States. 
(The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1917.)   Especially  chap,  vii,  pp.  242- 
302,  on  the  transition  to  shop  and  factory  manufacturing. 

Child  labor. — 8  a.  ABBOTT,  E.,  and  BRECKENRIDGE,  S.  P.  Tru- 
ancy and  Non-Attendance  in  the  Chicago  Schools,  a  Study  of  the 


52          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Social  Aspects  of  Compulsory  Education  and  Child  Labor  Legisla- 
tion in  Illinois.  (The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1915.) 

9.  MclNTiRE,  R.  The  Effect  of  Agricultural  Employment  upon 
School  Attendance.  Elementary  School  Journal,  March,  1918,  Vol. 
XVIII,  pp.  533-542.  Presents  distressing  picture  of  child  labor  in 
American  cotton,  tobacco,  and  beet  fields. 

Kindergarten.  —  10.  RAPEER,  L.  W.  Teaching  Elementary  School 
Subjects,  chapter  entitled  "  The  Kindergarten  and  the  Elementary 
School,"  by  Patty  Hill.  (Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1917.)  Pp.  38-57. 
Excellent  statement  of  aims  of  progressive  kindergartens. 

Quoted  Incidentally.  —  1 1 .  KINGSLEV,  S.  C,  and  DRESSLAR,  F.  B. 
Open- Air  Schools.  Bulletin  No.  23,  United  States  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion, 1916.  A  very  attractive  publication. 


CHAPTER  III1 
ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT 

Main  points  of  the  chapter 1 .  The  school  is  a  complicated 

institution  with  large  opportunities  for  waste  and  for  economy. 

2.  To  avoid  waste,  principles  of  business  management  should 
be  applied  in  the  classroom. 

3.  Routine  is  necessary  for  efficiency  and  economizes  time  and 
energy. 

4.  Individuality,  spontaneity,  initiative,  and  reasoning  may  have 
the    same    place   in   a   well-routinized   school    as    they   have   in 
democratic  social  life. 

5.  The  principal  routine  factors  are  (i)  getting  started  right  the 
first  day,  (2)  seating  of  pupils,  (3)  passing  to  and  from  recitations, 
(4)    handling    materials,   (5)   attention    to    physical    conditions, 
(6)  maintenance  of  good  order. 

Need  to  correlate  progressive  theory  and  efficient  practice. 
-  In  the  preceding  chapter  we  established  a  general  point 
of  view  concerning  the  purposes  of  elementary-school  in- 
struction which  will  assist  us  in  judging  the  value  of  proc- 
esses of  instruction  to  be  discussed  in  later  portions  of  the 
book.  There  is  danger,  however,  that  educational  leaders 
and  students  will  overemphasize  the  somewhat  idealistic 
conceptions  presented  in  the  preceding  chapter  and  will 
neglect  to  keep  in  mind  the  practical  school  situation  in 
which  such  theories  have  to  be  carried  out.  This  statement 
does  not  imply  that  the  more  progressive  policies  cannot 
be  carried  out  in  actual  practice,  but  it  does  imply  that  the 
success  of  these  policies  will  depend  upon  the  efficiency 

1  About  ten  pages  of  this   chapter  are   reprinted  from  the  author's 
"Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools."    (Ginn  and  Company! 

53 


54          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

with  which  progressive  teachers  apply  principles  of  business 
management  in  organizing  their  instruction.  Consequently, 
in  order  to  secure  a  proper  balance  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader  between  an  enthusiasm  for  broader  modern  ideals  in 
education,  on  the  one  hand,  and  principles  of  practical  man- 
agement, on  the  other,  this  chapter  dealing  with  economy 
in  classroom  management  is  introduced  at  this  point. 

Teacher  should  avoid  misdirected  time  and  energy.  - 
The  school  is  a  complicated  institution,  maintained  by 
society  to  achieve  certain  specific  results.  The  classroom 
activities  should  be  planned  carefully  to  make  sure  that 
they  are  directed  toward  securing  these  results  most  eco- 
nomically and  effectively,  and  the  possibilities  of  misdirected 
time,  effort,  and  energy  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Principles  of  business  management  should  be  applied.  — 
In  any  other  institution  or  organization  or  plant  that  is 
as  complicated  as  the  school,  efficiency  depends  to  a  large 
extent  upon  careful  attention  to  the  details  of  management. 
In  a  manufacturing  plant,  for  example,  great  care  is  taken 
to  provide  for  the  most  economic  placing  and  handling  of 
material,  so  as  to  eliminate  waste  motion.  A  manufacturer 
may  enormously  increase  the  efficiency  of  his  plant  by  in- 
venting a  device  that  will  require  fewer  operations  to  produce 
an  article,  or  will  produce  several  articles  by  the  same  num- 
ber of  operations  as  formerly  produced  but  one.  If  such 
principles  of  economy  are  important  in  factories,  where  the 
product  that  is  wasted  or  economized  is  material,  they  are 
much  more  important  in  the  school,  where  the  product  to 
be  wasted  or  economized  consists  of  human  lives.  No  fac- 
tory or  production  process  deals  with  more  precious  raw 
material  than  does  the  school ;  hence  in  no  other  process  is 
it  more  important  to  give  careful  attention  to  the  problems 
of  waste  and  economy  than  in  education. 

Routinize  mechanical  aspects  ;   use  judgment  in  variable 
aspects,  —  The  source's  of  waste  in  classroom  work  have 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       55 

been  divided  by  Professor  Bagley  into  two  principal  types  : 
The  first  type  includes  those  where  the  waste  is  due  to  fail- 
ure to  organize  properly  certain  mechanical  aspects  of  the 
classroom  activity.  To  this  type  he  applies  the  term  routine 
factors.  The  second  type  includes  those  sources  of  waste 
which  are  due  to  failure  to  adjust  the  classroom  activities 
to  the  constantly  varying  capacities,  interests,  and  responses 
of  the  pupils.  To  these  aspects  of  school  work  Bagley 
applies  the  term  judgment  factors.  The  routine  factors 
include  those  matters  that  recur  in  approximately  the  same 
form  from  day  to  day  and  which  can  be  advantageously 
systematized,  organized,  and  reduced  to  mechanical  habits. 
The  judgment  factors,  on  the  other  hand,  are  constantly 
varying,  and  require  of  the  teacher  constant  alert  exercise  of 
judgment  in  order  to  avoid  misdirected  time  and  energy. 

List  of  principal  routine  and  judgment  factors.  —  The 
principal  matters  to  which  attention  should  be  given  from 
the  standpoint  of  routine  are  the  following : 

1.  Getting  started  right  the  first  day. 

2.  Seating  of  pupils. 

3.  Passing  and  marching  by  pupils. 

4.  Handling  materials. 

5.  Attention  to  physical  conditions. 

6.  Maintenance  of  order. 

The  principal  judgment  factors  are  related  to  making 
provisions  for  individual  differences  in  capacities  and  secur- 
ing concentrated  attention  in  the  right  direction.  This 
chapter  will  discuss  the  elimination  of  waste  through  proper 
organization  of  the  routine  factors.  The  judgment  factors 
will  be  considered  in  several  later  chapters. 

Reasoning  and  individuality  may  have  the  same  place  in 
a  well-routinized  school  as  in  social  life.  —  Before  taking 
up  a  detailed  discussion  of  the  routine  factors,  we  shall 
endeavor  to  justify  the  "  business  conception  "  of  school- 
keeping  which  has  been  outlined  above,  since,  according  to 


$6         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

many  idealistic  educators,  "  factory  standards  "  and  "  machine 
processes"  have  no  place  in  the  school.  They  use  these 
words  as  terms  of  reproach,  and  always  speak  of  the  ' '  ideal 
school  "  in  terms  of  freedom,  spontaneity,  initiative,  reason- 
ing, etc.  Their  point  of  departure  for  emphasizing  the  latter 
is  a  notion  of  democratic  society  in  which  these  elements  of 
freedom  etc.  have  unrestrained  operation.  We  shall  endeavor 
to  show  here  that  freedom,  spontaneity,  individuality,  initi- 
ative, and  reasoning  may  have  the  same  place  in  a  well- 
rontinized  school  as  they  have  in  democratic  social  life. 

Examples  of  extreme  spontaneity  and  extreme  repression. 
Before  doing  this  systematically,  however,  we  shall  make 
the  problem  somewhat  more  concrete  by  describing  actual 
classes  observed  in  two  extreme  types  of  schools.  In  the 
first  school,  spontaneity,  individuality,  and  initiative  were 
emphasized  to  the  neglect  of  organization  and  self-control. 
In  the  second  school,  restraint  and  routine  were  emphasized 
to  the  neglect  of  reasoning  and  spontaneity. 

first  school ;  spontaneity  unrestrained.  —  There  seemed  to  be 
almost  no  discipline  in  the  second-grade  room  which  I  visited 
[writes  an  observer].  When  the  children  took  a  notion  they 
shouted  aloud,  ran  up  to  the  teacher,  ran  around  the  room  gener- 
ally. Even  the  children  in  kindergartens  which  I  have  observed 
are  better  disciplined  and  know  that  in  group  work  they  must 
raise  their  hands.  In  the  two  periods  in  which  I  visited  the 
second-grade  room,  I  did  not  see  a  child  raise  its  hand.  Oh,  yes, 
they  were  told  that  they  must  not  talk  while  the  class  was  busy, 
but  each  child  who  talked  was  told  individually  in  such  a  gentle 
voice  that  the  rest  did  not  hear  and  nothing  was  done  to  the  per- 
sistent offenders.  Life  in  the  second  grade  seemed  to  be  a  grand 
romp,  where  one  did  as  one  pleased  generally. 

Reasoning  and  irresponsibility.  —  In  the  sixth  grade  in  the  same 
school,  the  teacher  gave  the  children  excellent  training  in  expres- 
sion. She  was  especially  skilled  in  making  the  pupils  think  and 
decide  questions  for  themselves.  Many  of  the  children,  however, 
especially  the  boys,  were  irresponsible.  Fully  half  of  the  latter 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       57 

were  unprepared  on  assigned  work,  with  careless  excuses  for 
having  neglected  the  same.  Although  the  teaching  was  intensely 
interesting,  several  of  the  children  lounged  in  their  seats  and 
allowed  their  attention  to  wander  at  random. 

Second  school;  disciplined  to  death.  —  Very  different  was  the 
discipline  in  the  other  school  visited.  The  room  contained  a  sixth 
grade.  Everything  was  orderly  ;  not  a  pupil  out  of  place.  They 
found  their  exact  places  at  the  board  very  quietly.  The  pupils  in 
one  section  were  not  called  upon  for  practically  an  hour,  but  they 
sat  and  studied  continuously.  One  could  see  that  they  were  mem- 
orizing. I  had  not  been  there  fifteen  minutes  before  I  wanted  to 
flee  —  the  repression  was  so  pervasive  —  but  I  stuck  it  out  to  see 
what  it  was  really  like.  Not  a  child  smiled  while  I  was  there. 
Only  one  child  (while  the  teacher  was  outside,  speaking  to  a 
visitor)  was  in  any  way  "  out  of  order."  He  punched  another  boy 
passing,  and  it  did  my  heart  good  to  see  it.  It  was  the  only  bit  of 
life  in  the  room. 

On  my  entering  the  office  of  this  school,  a  mother  with  her  boy 
was  asking  the  principal  if  she  could  take  him,  for  he  was  learning 
nothing  in  the  school  which  he  was  then  attending  except  to  throw 
spitballs.  I  failed  to  learn  the  outcome  of  the  consultation,  but  I 
presume  he  was  accepted  as  a  pupil,  in  which  case  I  am  positive 
he  will  not  throw  any  more  spitballs.  But  I  wonder  why  ?  I 
wonder  just  what  fear  kept  the  room  repressed  as  it  certainly 
was.  One  motto  written  on  the  board-  was,  "  The  great  miracle 
worker  is  work " ;  yet  I  saw  no  miracle,  although  there  was 
plenty  of  work.  A  miracle  was  needed  greatly,  however,  for  the 
room  was  dead. 

How  to  balance  reasonable  freedom  and  orderly  routine. 
-The  contrast  between  these  two  schools  presents  con- 
cretely the  problem  which  concerns  us  here  ;  namely,  what 
is  the  proper  balance  to  secure  in  school  between  freedom, 
spontaneity,  individuality,  initiative,  and  reasoning  on  the 
one  hand,  and  obedience,  order,  and  routine  on  the  other 
hand.  Since  this  chapter  is  primarily  a  plea  for  a  type  of 
classroom  management  in  which  order  and  carefully  organ- 
ized routine  prevail,  we  shall  endeavor  to  show  that  this 


5 8          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

type  of  procedure  is  not  inconsistent  with  democratic 
freedom  and  reasoned  responsibility.  We  can  do  this  to 
advantage  in  connection  with  Bagley's  answers  to  the  argu- 
ments that  have  been  advanced  against  routine  in  school 
work.  (1  :  32) 

Democratic  social  organization  often  disregards  individu- 
ality.—  The  first  two  objections  that  Bagley  cites  and  refutes 
are  that  "mechanical  organization  disregards  the  individuality 
of  the  child"  and  that,  since  it  is  imposed  from  without,  "it 
is  an  expression  of  arbitrary  and  despotic  rule."  The  answer 
to  this  objection  is  that  even  in  a  democratic  society  social 
organization  does  the  same  thing  as  far  as  the  individual  is 
concerned.  Society  and  its  official  representatives  set  definite 
lines  within  which  the  individual  must  behave.  To  him  these 
lines  may  appear  "  arbitrary  and  despotic  "  and  may  seem  to 
"  disregard  his  individuality  "  ;  but  he  has  to  conform. 

Traffic  example.  —  Thus,  a  driver  of  a  vehicle  in  the 
crowded  streets  of  Chicago  cannot  make  a  crossing  without 
the  permission  of  the  traffic  policeman.  Doubtless  he  would 
often  prefer  to  dash  ahead,  after  the  policeman  has  blown 
his  whistle  to  stop  traffic  in  his  direction.  Doubtless  it 
appears  "arbitrary  and  despotic"  when  the  policeman  makes 
him  take  a  long  turn  in  going  around  a  corner  when  his 
inclination  is  to  "  short-cut  "  across.  But  the  traffic  regula- 
tions, personified  in  the  traffic  policeman,  are  great  social 
time-savers.  When,  as  an  experiment,  the  policemen  were 
removed  for  a  few  minutes  one  day  in  the  congested  down- 
town district,  it  required  only  a  short  time  for  all  traffic  to 
come  to  a  standstill,  because  the  "  individuality "  of  the 
drivers,  chauffeurs,  and  motormen  was  given  full  sway  and 
the  "despotic  rule"  of  the  social  guardians  abolished. 

Interdependence  and  obedience  as  important  as  independ- 
ence in  democratic  America.  —  As  shown  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  modern  social  life  is  characterized  by  the  most 
elaborate  and  intricate  interdependence  for  the  necessities 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       59 

of  life  —  food,  heat,  transportation,  etc.  As  a  consequence 
of  this  interdependence,  each  individual  must  be  trained  to 
do  his  part  in  a  dependable  manner,  obedient  to  the  general 
rules ;  for  example,  the  trainman  must  obey  orders  from  the 
train  dispatcher,  the  stenographer  must  get  the  mail  out  on 
time,  the  school  teacher  must  follow  the  prescribed  course 
of  study. 

Furthermore,  democratic  independence  does  not  mean  that 
each  individual  is  free  to  do  as  he  pleases.  As  a  general 
rule,  democratic  independence  in  the  government  is  found 
merely  in  the  fact  that  all  citizens  are  permitted  to  choose 
at  short  intervals  political  representatives  who  will  make  and 
execute  laws  which  the  citizens  will  have  to  obey.  Their 
freedom  does  not  consist  in  the  privilege  of  not  obeying 
authority,  but  in  having  a  voice  from  time  to  time  in  choos- 
ing the  authorities  whom  they  will  obey.  Obviously,  a  child 
in  school  cannot  be  given  the  privilege  of  choosing  the 
authority  (the  teacher)  whom  he  will  obey,  although  it  is 
possible  to  make  him  acquainted  with  principles  of  com- 
munity life  that  may  guide  him  in  his  choice  of  representa- 
tives when  he  becomes  a  voter.  The  point  to  notice  in 
connection  with  our  present  problem  is  that  democratic 
representative  society  requires  citizens  to  obey  laws ;  there- 
fore, the  school  is  not  being  undemocratic  merely  because 
it  requires  children  to  be  strictly  obedient. 

Efficient  spontaneity  may  be  encouraged  by  routine  re- 
sponsibilities.—  Another  objection  which  is  advanced  against 
providing  for  routine  in  school  work  is  that  it  "  discourages 
spontaneous  effort."  If  this  be  true,  it  is  just  as  true  of 
democratic  social  life  as  it  is  of  the  school.  In  our  own 
modern  democratic  life  all  activities  are  organized  and  nearly 
every  person  operates  as  part  of  some  organization,  whether 
it  be  the  government,  or  a  business  house,  or  simply  a  family. 
As  a  rule,  the  individual  who  is  working  in  an  organization 
has  certain  lines  prescribed  for  him,  within  which  he  may 


60         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

be  as  "  intelligently  spontaneous  "  as  he  is  capable  of  being. 
The  buyer  for  a  department  in  a  large  business  concern  or 
the  head  of  a  government  office  has  certain  definite  routine 
responsibilities,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  these  interfere  with 
his  efficient  spontaneity  in  perfecting  his  own  work.  The 
testimony  of  many  persons  would  indicate  just  the  opposite ; 
namely,  that  they  work  harder  for  improvement  when  they 
know  that  they  are  responsible  for  certain  specific  matters 
than  they  do  if  their  responsibilities  are  rather  vague  and 
undefined. 

Many  original  thinkers  are  strong  in  routine  work. —  It  is 
often  falsely  assumed  that  there  is  necessarily  some  antago- 
nism between  ability  to  do  original  independent  thinking  and 
careful  attention  to  routine.  Thorndike  shows  the  fallacy  of 
this  idea  in  the  following  quotation  : 

It  is  my  privilege  to  know  a  fair  number  of  original  thinkers 
and  workers  in  science,  medicine,  the  ministry,  law,  and  business. 
Such  men  are  extraordinarily  competent  in  routine  work  -  and 
extraordinarily  strong  in  mere  knowledge.  The  most  original  chil- 
dren of  my  acquaintance  are"  so  not  by  any  denial  of  the  claims  of 
mere  lesson-learning  and  skill-acquiring  in  traditional  ways.  On 
the  contrary,  they  could  beat  the  pedants  and  hacks  of  equal  age 
at  their  own  games.  During  the  past  month  I  have  been  studying 
the  ratings  of  sixty  electrical  engineers  employed  by  the  Westing- 
house  Company  and  rated  by  the  company's  officers  for  originality 
and  seventeen  other  qualities,  such  as  thoroughness,  knowledge, 
industry  at  routine  tasks  and  the  like.  Far  from  there  being  any 
antagonism  between  originality  and  industry  at  routine  tasks  .  .  . 
or  between  originality  and  system,  there  is  a  positive  correlation. 
(3  :  407) 

Routine  does  not  necessarily  eliminate  rational  method's. 
—  Another  objection  that  is  sometimes  urged  against  routin- 
izing  any  school  activities  is  that  "  mechanical  organization 
in  matters  properly  routine  tends  to  spread  to  matters  of  a 
different  nature."  Unfortunately  this  is  true  in  the  case  of 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       6 1 

many  teachers  and  administrators.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
there  are  many  educational  extremists  who  tend  to  line  up 
in  either  one  of  the  following  columns  : 

Extreme  formalists  Extreme  idealists 

1.  All  routine,  no  freedom.  i.  All  freedom,  no  routine. 

2.  Emphasize   formal  subjects,      2.  Emphasize  content  subjects, 

neglect  content  subjects.  neglect  formal  subjects. 

3.  Emphasize  memorizing,  neg-      3.  Emphasize    reasoning,    neg- 

lect reasoning.  lect  memorizing. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  either  an  extreme  formalist  or 
an  extreme  idealist.  It  is  possible  to  provide  for  an  adequate 
study  of  the  content  subjects  (geography,  history,  literature, 
science,  etc.)  by  methods  that  involve  reasoning,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  provide  for  routinizing  those  phases  of  class- 
room management  in  which  it  will  result  in  economy  of 
time  and  effort. 

Do  habits  antagonise  reasoning? — The  point  just  men- 
tioned is  related  to  a  final  objection;  namely,  that  "rou- 
tine, or  habit,  antagonizes  reason."  By  habit  we  mean  the 
tendency  to  behave  in  situations  in  approximately  the  same 
ways  as  we  have  behaved  in  similar  situations  before.  By 
reasoning  we  mean  the  tendency  to  reflect  concerning  re- 
adjusting or  modifying  our  reactions  to  situations  —  to  think 
out  new  methods  of  dealing  with  problematic  situations. 

The  tendency  to  focus  attention  on  either  one  or  the  other 
of  these  two  phases  of  behavior,  namely,  either  habit  or  reason- 
ing, is  brought  out  in  an  interesting  way  in  comparing  two 
definitions  of  education,  one  by  William  James  (1842-1910) 
and  the  other  by  Professor  John  Dewey,  two  of  the  foremost 
American  writers  on  psychology.  In  his  "Talks  to  Teachers 
on  Psychology"  (page  29)  James  says,  "Education  is  the  or- 
ganization of  acquired  habits  of  conduct  and  tendencies  to  be- 
havior," and  on  page  viii  he  says,  "  The  aim  of  education  is  to 
make  useful  habits  automatic."  Here  we  have  the  emphasis 


62          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

placed  on  the  habit  element  in  education.  On  the  other  hand, 
Dewey  says,  "  Education  is  the  reconstruction  of  experience." 
Here  the  emphasis  is  placed,  not  on  the  fixing  of  former 
methods  of  behavior,  but  on  the  breaking  up  of  habits  and 
the  readjustment  of  one's  old  methods  of  behavior  to  meet 
new  and  changing  situations. 

Some  habits  free  the  mind  for  reasoning.  —  The  apparent 
contradiction  involved  in  these  two  definitions  of  education 
disappears,  however,  when  we  get  a  complete  statement  from 
one  of  the  authors,  in  which  both  factors,  habit  and  reason, 
are  taken  into  consideration.  Thus,  James  says : 

We  must  make  automatic  and  habitual,  as  early  as  possible,  as 
many  useful  actions  as  we  can.  .  .  .  The  more  of  the  details  of  our 
daily  life  we  can  hand  over  to  the  effortless  custody  of  automatism, 
the  more  our  higher  powers  of  mind  will  be  set  free  for  their  own 
proper  work.  There  is  no  more  miserable  human  being  than  one 
in  whom  nothing  is  habitual  but  indecision,  and  for  whom  the 
lighting  of  every  cigar,  the  drinking  of  every  cup,  the  time  of 
rising  and  going  to  bed  every  day,  and  the  beginning  of  every  bit 
of  work,  are  subjects  of  express  volitional  deliberation.  Full  half 
the  time  of  such  a  man  goes  to  the  deciding,  or  regretting,  of 
matters  which  ought  to  be  so  ingrained  in  him  as  practically  not 
to  exist  for  his  consciousness  at  all.  If  there  be  such  daily  duties 
not  yet  ingrained  in  any  one  of  my  readers,  let  him  begin  this  very 
hour  to  set  the  matter  right.  (2  (ft)  :  122) 

This  quotation  gives  the  true  relation  to  establish  between 
habit  and  reasoning,  and  may  well  furnish  a  motto  for  class- 
room activity ;  namely,  "  Make  habitual,  as  early  as  possible, 
as  many  useful  acts  as  you  can,  in  order  that  the  minds  of 
teachers  and  children  may  be  free  to  consider  problems  that 
are  worth  reasoning  about."  We  shall  now  proceed  to  apply 
this  motto  to  the  six  routine  aspects  of  classroom  manage- 
ment which  were  outlined  above  on  page  55. 

i .  Begin  right  the  first  day.  —  The  first  consideration  in 
classroom  management  from  the  standpoint  of  routine  is 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       63 

to  get  started  right  the  first  day.  As  James  advises  in  the 
last  sentence  in  the  quotation  given  above,  "begin  this  very 
hour  to  set  the  matter  right."  In  classroom  management, 
the  time  to  set  matters  right  is  at  the  beginning.  Any 
neglect  of  this  advice  results  in  lost  ground  which  can  only 
be  recovered  later  by  sacrifice  of  time  and  energy.  James 
gives  the  following  rule  in  this  connection  :  "In  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  new  habit  ...  we  must  take  care  to  launch  our- 
selves with  a  decided  initiative."  Applied  to  the  first  day  at 
school,  this  rule  means  that  work  should  start  off  with  a 
vigorous  attack  by  pupils  and  teacher.  It  means  that  it  is 
important  to  have  the  impressions  of  the  first  day  be  those 
that  are  to  persist  and  give  the  keynote  for  the  rest  of 
the  term. 

Become  acquainted  in  advance  with  the  local  situation.  — 
In  order  to  be  able  to  do  this,  the  beginning  teacher,  or  a 
teacher  in  a  new  situation,  needs  to  get  on  the  ground  some 
days  before  school  opens  and  to  familiarize  herself  thor- 
oughly with  the  situation  in  general  and  in  detail.  This 
should  include  a  study  of  the  community,  of  the  recent  his- 
tory of  the  school,  of  the  ideals  and  policy  of  the  present 
administration,  of  the  building  (with  its  classrooms,  assembly 
arrangements,  lavatories,  playground,  heating  and  ventilating 
systems),  of  the  school  library  and  other  neighboring  library 
facilities.  It  should  include  also  a  careful  examination  of  the 
course  of  study  and  of  the  annual  and  daily  programs.  This 
should  lead  to  a  definite  planning  of  the  work  to  be  covered 
for  the  whole  term.  If  it  is  the  teacher's  first  year  in  teach- 
ing, she  would  do  well  to  advise  with  several  experienced 
teachers  concerning  the  best  pace  with  which  to  advance. 

Plan  definite  activities  for  the  first  day.  —  Having  got 
the  general  situation  in  mind,  she  should  plan  in  detail  the 
work  of  the  first  week  and  be  prepared  to  use  the  first  day 
for  purposes  of  serious  instruction.  In  order  to  do  this  she 
will  have  to  make  sure  that  the  necessary  materials  are  on 


64          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

hand,  including  possibly  chalk,  pencils,  pens,  ink,  paper, 
maps,  specimens,  materials  for  construction,  toys,  or  whatever 
may  be  required. 

The  work  of  the  first  day  may  include  three  elements  : 
( i )  steps  to  acquaint  the  teacher  with  the  pupils,  (2)  steps  to 
make  the  pupils  feel  at  home  and  interested  in  the  school, 
(3)  some  actual  instruction.  Such  instruction  may  easily 
include  free  play,  games,  construction  or  story-telling  in  the 
kindergarten  and  primary  grades,  conversational  introductions 
to  new  topics  in  all  grades,  lessons  from  books  above  the  first 
grade  where  free  textbooks  are  provided,  or  reviews  of  work 
of  the  previous  year  and  related  experiences. 

With  the  first  day  used  effectively  in  some  such  manner, 
the  first  step  has  been  taken  in  the  direction  of  economizing 
time  and  energy. 

2.  Varied  seating  and  grouping  of  pupils  for  various  pur- 
poses. —  The  second  routine  aspect  of  the  classroom  man- 
agement concerns  the  seating  or  grouping  of  pupils  for 
various  purposes.  Some  examples  will  be  given  to  illustrate 
the  possibilities  of  improved  instruction  by  attention  to 
this  matter. 

Kindergarten  circle  replaced  by  more  informal  groupings. 
-  The  first  examples  are  from  the  kindergarten  where  very 
strong  traditions  have  prevailed  concerning  the  seating  and 
grouping  of  pupils.  Often  the  traditional  formal  arrange- 
ments are  not  so  well  suited  to  the  kindergarten  activities 
as  others  would  be.  This  fact  is  brought  out  in  the  following 
comments  made  by  Miss  Alice  Temple  in  a  survey  of  a 
conservative  kindergarten  system. 

Tradition  seems  to  have  decreed  that  there  are  but  two  pos- 
sible arrangements  for  the  children  in  the  kindergarten.  .  .  .  For 
all  work  with  materials  they  must  be  seated  at  tables ;  for  all 
other  exercises  they  must  be  seated  or  standing  in  a  ring.  The 
position  in  the  ring  is  a  good  one  for  the  playing  of  games,  but 
for  free  conversation,  or  story-telling,  .  .  .  the  gathering  of  the 


From  Butte,  Montana,  public  kindergarten 

MODERN  TYPE  OF  KINDERGARTEN  EQUIPMENT 
Large  blocks  permitting  of  informal  construction  by  the  pupils 


66         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

children  into  an  informal  group,  near  to  and  facing  the  teacher,  is 
a  much  more  natural  and  satisfactory  arrangement.    (8  :  41) 

[Similarly]  during  the  singing  period.  In  the  schools  observed, 
the  children,  with  the  exception  of  those  in  one  kindergarten,  were 
either  seated  or  standing  in  a  ring.  Better  results  would  be  ob- 
tained if  the  children  were  gathered  into  a  group  standing  near 
the  piano  where  they  could  hear  the  teacher  easily.  They  would 
realize  then  that  this  was  the  time  primarily  for  singing.  When 
standing  close  together  and  near  the  piano,  they  get  the  effect  of 
the  blending  of  voices  ;  the  teacher  can  easily  place  the  mono- 
tones near  her  or  near  a  child  whose  voice  is  true ;  a  small  choir 
may  be  assembled  quickly  for  small  group  singing,  etc.  (8 :  52) 

Wide  heavy  kindergarten  tables  replaced  by  narrow  fold- 
ing ones.  —  The  size  and  kind  of  table  used  in  seating  kin- 
dergarten children  is  an  important  routine  factor  in  saving 
time  and  energy  and  improving  instruction.  This  fact  is 
brought  out  in  the  following  comments  by  Miss  Temple  on 
the  kindergarten  equipment  which  she  observed. 

The  tables  now  in  use  are  of  the  older  type,  six  feet  long  or 
more  and  two  and  one-half  or  three  feet  wide.  They  are  made  to 
accommodate  children  seated  at  all  four  sides.  Narrow  tables 
eighteen  inches  wide  lend  themselves  to  a  much  more  satisfactory 
arrangement  of  the  children  with  reference  to  the  light  and  to  the 
teacher,  but  more  of  them  are  needed  for  the  same  number  of 
children.  It  is  convenient  to  have  some  of  these  narrow  tables  of 
the  six-foot  length  and  others  of  the  three-foot  length.  They  may 
then  be  used  singly  by  small  groups  of  children  or  combined  in 
various  ways,  according  to  the  number  of  children  in  the  group  or 
the  type  of  material  with  which  they  are  working.  When  the 
entire  class  is  to  do  the  same  work,  directed  by  the  teacher,  an 
arrangement  by  which  all  face  the  teacher  is  usually  best.  When 
the  class  is  divided  into  groups  of  different  sizes  for  different  kinds 
of  work,  other  arrangements  are  more  satisfactory.  Furthermore, 
in  a  room  equipped  with  small  tables  as  well  as  with  larger  ones, 
the  problem  of  seating  the  children  at  tables  of  the  right  height  for 
them  is  very  much  simplified.  One  or  more  of  the  small  tables 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       67 

may  be  made  lower  by  cutting  an  inch  or  two  off  the  legs  to 
accommodate  the  smaller  children.  Chair  legs  may  be  cut  to 
correspond. 

The  tables  described  are  folding  tables,  which  may  be  easily 
disposed  of  when  the  entire  floor  space  is  needed  for  games  or 
other  physical  activities  or  when  the  room  is  needed  for  assembly 
purposes.  Three  tables  six  feet  by  eighteen  inches  and  six  tables 
three  feet  by  eighteen  inches  would  be  adequate  for  a  group  of 
thirty  children.  (8  :  8) 

Class  grouping  for  primary  reading. — Another  example 
of  the  improvement  of  instruction  by  special  seating  or 
grouping  of  children  is  found  in  the  arrangement  of  a 
group  in  primary  reading.  When  the  section  that  is  read- 
ing does  not  consist  of  more  than  twenty  pupils,  small 
chairs  are  provided  and  the  children  grouped  in  semicircles 
near  the  teacher.  This  arrangement  enables  the  teacher  and 
pupils  to  speak  in  low  voices  and  still  be  heard  distinctly ; 
it  enables  the  teacher  to  observe  carefully  each  child  as  he 
responds ;  and  it  provides  a  compact  audience  situation  in 
which  interest  and  attention  can  often  be  better  secured 
than  in  the  more  spread-out  arrangement  that  prevails  when 
the  little  chairs  are  not  available. 

3.  Routinized  passing  and  marching  by  pupils. — The 
third  phase  of  classroom  routine  is  the  organized  orderly 
passing  of  pupils.  This  is  a  feature  that  is  often  overempha- 
sized in  extremely  formal  schools  and  entirely  neglected  in 
schools  that  overemphasize  freedom  and  initiative.  The  de- 
sirability of  such  routine  in  social  life  is  clearly  illustrated  in 
the  traffic  situation  described  above  on  page  58,  and  in  the 
saving  of  life  through  fire  drills.  It  is  obvious  that  quick, 
quiet,  and  orderly  passing  by  pupils  to  the  board,  or  through 
the  cloakroom,  or  through  the  halls,  saves  social  confusion 
and  energy  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  does  traffic 
regulation  at  a  busy  street  corner.  Consequently,  a  teacher 
who  drills  her  pupils  carefully  in  these  matters  is  not  only 


68          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

saving  much  time  and  energy  for  various  school  activities  but 
is  also  training  in  habits  that  are  closely  paralleled  in  social 
life.  A  beginning  teacher  should  observe  carefully  the 
methods  of  organizing  assembly  and  dismissal  used  by 
various  teachers  and  imitate  the  most  successful.  She  should 
observe  also  such  matters  as  the  children  running  on  tiptoe 
to  and  fro  in  the  primary  grades  and  pupils  having  regularly 
assigned  places  at  the  blackboard  in  all  the  grades. 

4.  Handling  materials.  Monitors  economise  time  for 
teacher  and  class.  —  The  fourth  factor  in  routine  manage- 
ment is  the  handling  of  materials.  The  greatest  economy  of 
time  and  energy  can  be  effected  here  by  enlisting  the  pupils 
as  monitors.  Many  children  are  perfectly  competent  to  per- 
form monitorial  services.  The  selection  of  such  competent 
ones  even  in  the  first  grade  is  amusingly  described  by 
Myra  Kelly  in  her  entertaining  book  of  school  stories  and 
romance  entitled  "  Little  Citizens."  The  stories  concern 
the  fictitious  Miss  Bailey's  first  experiences  in  a  slum  dis- 
trict in  New  York.  Miss  Bailey's  selection  of  monitors  is 
described  in  the  following  words : 

An  organized  government  requires  a  cabinet,  and,  during  the 
first  weeks  of  her  reign  over  Room  18,  Miss  Bailey  set  about  pro- 
viding herself  with  aides  and  advisers.  She  made,  naturally,  some 
fatal  and  expensive  mistakes,  as  when  she  intrusted  the  class 
pencils  to  the  care  of  one  of  the  Yonowsky  twins  who,  promptly 
falling  ill  of  scarlet  fever  and  imparting  it  to  his  brother,  reduced 
the  First-Reader  class  to  writing  with  colored  chalk. 

But  gradually  from  the  rank  and  file  of  candidates,  from  the 
well-meaning  but  clumsy  ;  from  the  competent  but  dishonest ;  from 
the  lazy  and  from  the  rash,  she  selected  three  loyal  and  devoted 
men  to  share  her  task  of  ruling.  They  were  Morris  Mogilewsky, 
prime  minister  and  monitor  of  the  goldfish  bowl;  Nathan 
Spiderwitz,  councilor  of  the  exchequer  and  monitor  of  window 
boxes;  and  Patrick  Brennan,  commander  in  chief  of  the  forces 
and  leader  of  the  line. 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       69 

The  members  of  this  cabinet,  finding  themselves  raised  to  such 
high  places  by  the  pleasure  of  their  sovereign,  kept  watchful  eyes 
upon  her.  For  full  well  they  knew  that  crudest  of  all  the  laws  of 
the  board  of  education,  which  decrees  "  that  the  marriage  of  a 
female  teacher  shall  constitute  resignation."  This  ruling  had 
deprived  them  of  a  kindergarten  teacher  of  transcendent  charm 
and  had  made  them  as  watchful  of  Miss  Bailey  as  a  bevy  of 
maiden  aunts  could  have  been.  Losing  her,  they  would  lose  love 
and  power,  and  love  and  power  are  sweet.  (6  :  89-91) 

Monitorial  system  extensively  used  in  Neiv  York, 
1805-1830.  —  In  New  York  City  the  use  of  monitors  had 
an  interesting  history,  for  from  1805  to  about  1830  even  the 
instruction  in  the  schools  was  given  by  them  in  large  rooms 
containing  only  one  teacher  to  over  two  hundred  pupils. 

When  a  child  was  admitted,  a  monitor  assigned  him  his  class ; 
while  he  remained,  a  monitor  taught  him  (with  nine  other  pupils) ; 
when  he  was  absent,  one  monitor  ascertained  the  fact  and  another 
found  out  the  reason ;  a  monitor  examined  him  periodically,  and 
when  he  made  progress  a  monitor  promoted  him ;  a  monitor  ruled 
the  writing  paper ;  a  monitor  had  charge  of  the  slates  or  books ; 
and  a  monitor-general  looked  after  all  the  other  monitors.  Every 
monitor  wore  a  leather  ticket,  gilded  and  lettered  "  Monitor  of 
the  First  Class,"  "  Reading  Monitor  of  the  Second  Class," 
etc.  (4:  103) 

Monitors  only  for  mechanical  aspects  ;  middle-grade  ex- 
ample. —  It  goes  without  saying  that  the  use  of  monitors 
for  instruction  in  a  modern  elementary  school  is  not  to  be 
advocated  now.  The  above  quotations,  however,  illustrate 
the  fact  that  some  children  are  perfectly  competent  to  assist 
the  teacher  in  many  mechanical  matters,  and  take  great 
delight  in  doing  so.  An  example  of  the  reasonable  use  of 
monitors  at  the  present  time  is  found  in  the  following 
account  presented  in  one  of  the  author's  classes  by  an 
experienced  teacher  in  the  middle  grades. 


70          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Monitors  are  chosen  for  two  weeks  to  pass  paper  daily  for 
arithmetic,  language,  penmanship,  and  drawing;  others  are  ap- 
pointed to  collect  and  pass  out  pencils  which  are  sharpened  and 
fumigated  twice  a  week ;  two  children  are  given  the  duty  of  clean- 
ing and  replacing  the  erasers  every  noon,  while  two  others  wash 
the  board  and  water  the  plants ;  a  large  boy  is  given  the  task  of 
caring  for  the  ventilation  and  another  the  raising  and  lowering  of 
the  window  shades.  After  the  first  few  days  I  am  absolutely 
relieved  of  all  responsibility  for  this  part  of  school  management. 

Time  wasted  by  kindergartens  in  preparing  materials.  — 
Another  phase  of  economy  of  time  with  materials  is 
illustrated  by  the  large  amount  of  time  which  many  primary 
and  kindergarten  teachers  spend  in  getting  materials  ready 
for  children.  The  waste  which  is  thus  entailed  is  described 
by  Miss  Temple  in  the  following  observations : 

There  are  unquestionably  many  kindergartners  who  spend 
much  more  time  in  work  of  this  kind  than  is  necessary  or  desirable. 
The  work  seen  in  the  .  .  .  kindergartens  goes  to  show  that  the 
teachers  often  prepare  the  [materials]  for  the  children  so  completely 
that  there  is  little  left  for  the  children  to  do.  For  example,  they 
draw  outlines  of  objects  for  the  children  to  cut,  instead  of  giving 
the  children  the  more  valuable  experience  of  trying  to  cut  forms 
without  the  help  of  an  outline,  or  they  cut  out  rather  elaborate 
paper  forms,  drawing  lines  where  the  children  are  to  fold,  leaving 
for  the  children  only  the  last  step  or  two  of  the  whole  process  of 
construction.  The  results  are  likely  to  be  excellent,  but  they  do 
not  represent  the  children's  work.  If  the  teachers  would  plan 
simpler  forms  of  occupation  and  would  be  satisfied  with  cruder 
products,  they  would  be  able  to  develop  in  the  children  a  degree 
of  independence  in  handwork  which  does  not  now  exist,  according 
to  the  reports  of  the  first-grade  teachers  who  receive  the  children 
trom  the  kindergartens.  (8  :  19) 

This  quotation  illustrates  clearly  that  careful  study  of  the 
best  methods  of  providing  and  handling  materials  not  only 
saves  time  and  energy  but  may  also  result  in  methods 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       71 

which  give  the  children  valuable  training. '  The  same  fact 
was  illustrated  by  the  monitorial  services  of  children  which 
give  them  excellent  training  in  simple  routine  responsibilities. 

5.  Physical  conditions.  Proper  ventilation  and  lighting 
conserve  energy.  —  The  fifth  routine  factor  to  be  considered 
in  economizing  time  and  energy  is  attention  to  the  physical 
conditions  of  the  classroom.  This  is  important  not  only 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  temporary  and  permanent  effects 
upon  health  but  also  from  the  standpoint  of  waste  of  energy. 
If  a  room  is  poorly  ventilated  or  lighted,  the  energy  of  the 
pupils  which  is  available  for  concentrated  study  is  diminished. 

Teacher  may  supplement  the  ventilating  system.  —  The 
teacher  should  acquaint  herself  with  the  ventilating  system 
and  try  to  cooperate  effectively  in  its  management.  If  it 
does  not  work,  she  may  be  able  to  take  steps  to  supplement 
it.  For  example,  in  two  recitation  rooms  which  I  have  used 
there  was  an  ample  supply  of  fresh  air  from  the  inlet  in  the 
wall  near  the  ceiling  in  one  end  of  each  room.  But  in  each 
case  the  outlet  was  placed  in  the  wall  near  the  floor  directly 
under  the  inlet.  As  a  consequence  the  air  circulated  very 
well  in  one  end  of  the  room,  but  three  fourths  of  the  room 
received  practically  no  benefit  from  the  system.  Upon  the 
suggestion  of  the  teacher  a  metal  deflector  was  made  by 
the  engineer  and  fastened  on  the  inlet  in  such  a  way  as  to 
send  the  air  diagonally  across  the  room,  thus  providing  a 
supply  of  fresh  air  for  nearly  all  parts.  In  case  there  is  no 
ventilating  system,  the  teacher  can  at  least  provide  for  ven- 
tilation boards  on  the  window  sills.  These  will  make  it 
possible  to  keep  the  windows  partly  open  during  recitations 
in  cold  weather.  The  teacher  should  not  rely  upon  her  own 
impressions  concerning  the  condition  of  the  air  in  the  room, 
for  her  sense  of  smell  soon  becomes  fatigued  in  such  a  way 
that  it  does  not  inform  her  of  the  conditions. 

Arrange  so  that  pupils  do  not  face  the  light.  —  In  regard 
to  lighting,  the  teacher's  first  duty  is  to  arrange  so  that 


72         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

pupils  do  not  sit  facing  the  light.  The  frequent  neglect  of 
this  simple  precaution  is  very  striking.  In  kindergarten 
rooms  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  many  children  placed  so 
that  they  face  low  windows  and  receive  the  full  glare  of  the 
light  directly  in  their  eyes.  Such  positions  handicap  them 
seriously  and  waste  much  energy. 

Avoid  shadows  on  the  page.  —  The  second  precaution  is 
to  arrange  so  that  there  are  no  shadows  on  the  page  at 
which  the  child  is  looking.  In  other  words,  there  should 
be  the  same  degree  of  illumination  all  over  the  page.  If 
this  is  not  the  case,  the  pupil  of  the  eye  is  constantly 
readjusting  itself  to  the  different  degrees  of  illumination. 
This  is  not  only  a  waste  of  energy,  but  it  is  often  quite 
distracting  and  annoying,  although  the  reader  may  not  be 
clearly  conscious  of  the  cause  of  the  annoyance.  We  have 
extreme  examples  of  this  variation  in  illumination  on  a  day 
when  shifting  clouds  cause  a  rapid  alternation  of  sunshine 
and  shadow.  The  eyestrain  under  these  extreme  conditions 
is  quite  noticeable.  When  one  side  or  half  of  the  page  is 
well  illuminated  and  the  other  part  in  deep  shadow,  the 
eyes  may  experience  the  same  phenomenon  on  a  smaller 
scale  some  fifty  to  a  hundred  times  as  they  follow  the  lines 
of  a  single  page. 

Single  source  of  illumination  best.  —  The  first  step  usually 
taken  to  avoid  such  a  situation  is  to  provide  that  the  light 
shall  come  from  a  single  source.  The  pupil  can  then  easily 
sit  in  such  a  position  that  there  are  no  shadows  on  his  page. 
If  there  are  two  sources  of  light,  the  possibilities  of  sitting 
so  as  not  to  have  shadows  and  at  the  same  time  not  to  face 
a  light  directly  are  greatly  reduced.  If  there  are  a  great 
many  near  sources  of  illumination,  as  in  a  railroad  coach  at 
night,  the  page  may  be  streaked  with  light  and  shadow.  In 
constructing  schoolrooms  it  is  now  quite  common  to  pro- 
vide that  the  light  shall  come  only  from  one  side  (namely, 
the  left),  in  order  to  avoid  shadows.  Even  when  light  comes 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM   MANAGEMENT       73 

from  more  than  one  side  in  a  room,  the  teacher,  by  proper 
manipulation  of  the  shades  and  by  proper  directions  to  the 
pupils,  can  greatly  reduce  the  loss  of  energy  which  would 
result  from  reading  under  conditions  that  cause  strain 
or  distraction. 

Hygienic  conditions  improved  in  kindergartens  recently.  — 
Many  of  the  activities  provided   for  children   in  the  old- 
fashioned    kindergartens   required    such    small    movements 
and    such   concentrated    attention   as   to   result   in    serious 
nervous  strain. 

Great  improvements  have  been  made  in  kindergartens 
recently  by  providing  activities  and  conditions  better  adapted 
to  the  health  of  little  children.  These  improvements  are 
summarized  by  Miss  Luella  A.  Palmer  in  the  following 
quotation. 

Health  is  the  first  consideration  in  the  education  of  little  chil- 
dren. Most  of  the  kindergartners  have  discarded  the  occupations 
which  were  found  injurious  to  the  children's  eyesight,  very  few 
overstimulate  with  nervous  excitable  play,  and  practically  none 
forget  to  pay  attention  to  the  demand  of  the  little  bodies  for  free 
muscular  movement.  Yet  the  crying  need  of  our  kindergartens  is 
for  still  better  hygienic  conditions.  This  is  seldom  the  fault  of  the 
kindergartner ;  she  knows  the  value  of  fresh  air  and  sunshine,  of 
space  for  free  activity,  of  large  blocks  for  building,  of  digging  in 
the  ground,  of  opportunities  for  individual  children  to  rest  or  exer- 
cise as  they  desire,  but  many  kindergartens  are  placed  in  such 
conditions  that  these  good  things  are  denied  to  the  children. 

We  have  grown  much  since  Dr.  Stanley  Hall  in  the  Forum  of 
January,  1900,  criticized  the  kindergarten,  particularly  with  regard 
to  health  conditions.  Most  kindergartners  do  the  best  they  can  in 
this  respect.  Wherever  possible  they  have  work  in  the  open  air, 
they  ventilate  the  room,  sometimes  clean  it  themselves  if  janitors 
are  careless,  they  keep  the  light  out  of  the  children's  eyes,  they  try 
to  have  comfortable  seats,  to  alternate  periods  of  rest  and  activity, 
to  have  the  atmosphere  of  the  room  quieting  to  the  nerves,  and 
they  wash  the  children  who  come  dirty,  —  often  the  first  weeks  of 


74         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

kindergarten  are  devoted  to  different  methods  of  impressing  clean- 
liness. At  mothers'  meetings  the  topics  are  care  of  the  child,  his 
food,  rest,  and  play.  (7  :  1 06) 

6.  Maintaining  good  order.  An  important  time  saver.  — 
The  sixth  and  final  routine  factor  which  we  shall  consider  in 
our  discussion  of  economy  of  time  and  energy  is  good  order. 
By  good  order  we  mean  noninterference  of  the  pupils  with 
each  other  and  proper  attention  by  each  child  to  the  activi- 
ties of  the  class  as  a  group.  It  is  obvious  that  the  failure 
of  any  child  to  attend  to  the  business  in  which  the  teacher 
and  group  are  engaged  is  an  important  source  of  waste  in 
the  classroom. 

Troublesome  children.  Sometimes  mentally  and  morally 
defective.  —  As  a  rule  the  teacher  may  assume  that  if  the 
other  conditions  of  instruction  are  properly  provided  for, 
most  of  the  pupils  will  behave  themselves.  There  are  nearly 
always,  however,  a  few  pupils  whose  selfish  instincts  are  so 
strong,  and  whose  social  instincts  and  self-control  are  so 
weak,  that  they  will  not  cooperate  readily.  Just  as  criminals 
in  social  life  cause  an  enormous  amount  of  social  waste 
entirely  disproportionate  to  their  numbers,  so  these  instinc- 
tively selfish  and  noncooperative  children  cause  a  dispropor- 
tionately large  waste  of  time  in  the  work  of  social  groups 
in  the  school.  Fortunately,  the  most  extremely  defective  of 
such  children  are  now  recognized  by  science  as  being  per- 
manently mental  and  moral  defectives  and  are  not  permitted 
in  the  regular  public  schools.  Among  such  mental  and  moral 
defectives  are  idiots  and  imbeciles.  Readers  of  this  book 
probably  realize  that  such  defectives  cannot  be  trained  as 
ordinary  children  are  trained,  and  that  even  with  the  best 
of  training  they  will  remain  mentally  and  morally  defective 
all  their  lives.  Children  who  are  endowed  with  slightly 
higher  mental  and  moral  powers,  but  who  still  are  perma- 
nently mental  and  moral  defectives,  are  often  encountered  in 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       75 

the  elementary  schools.  In  the  juvenile  courts  and  psycho- 
logical clinics  of  cities,  special  studies  are  now  being  made 
on  a  large  scale  to  determine  the  best  methods  of  diagnosing 
and  dealing  with  such  boys  and  girls. 

Example  of  troublesome  defective  child.  —  The  point  for 
us  to  notice  is  that  the  presence  of  such  a  child  in  a  class- 
room may  greatly  increase  the  disciplinary  difficulties.  An 
example  of  this  fact  is  shown  by  the  following  observation 
of  the  discipline  in  a  fifth  grade  before  and  after  such  a 
child  was  removed.  The  room  contained  fifty  children,  and 
the  observer  writes  as  follows  : 

Upon  my  first  visit  four  boys  and  one  girl  were  inclined  to  be 
troublesome,  the  girl  especially.  She  was  seated  at  a  special  table, 
and  during  a  music  lesson  repeatedly  turned  about  and  grinned  at 
the  other  pupils.  She  made  no  pretense  at  taking  part  in  the  work 
of  the  room,  either  then  or  later  during  the  arithmetic  and  geog- 
raphy recitations.  One  could  see  she  was  a  "  terror."  At  recess 
she  passed  out  with  the  others  in  quite  an  orderly  manner,  but  on 
returning  she  kept  the  lad  who  was  to  close  the  dressing-room 
doors  waiting  two  or  three  minutes,  standing  exasperatingly  in  his 
way.  The  teacher  merely  said,  "  Hurry  up,  Mary,"  and  continued 
her  work. 

Upon  my  second  visit  the  troublesome  girl  was  not  at  the  table. 
I  ascertained  that  she  had  been  expelled  and  that  the  mother  was 
at  her  wits'  ends  to  know  what  to  do  with  her,  so  unbecoming  was 
her  conduct  at  home  and  on  the  street.  Her  teacher  regretted  that 
she  had  been  unable  to  help  the  girl  and  had  recommended  that  she 
be  placed  in  an  institution.  Doubtless  the  city  authorities  would 
determine  the  advisability  of  this  procedure  through  tests  and 
investigation.  Meanwhile,  the  boys  in  the  room  had  settled  down 
and  the  whole  class  was  interested  and  busy. 

Noncooperative  pupils  even  among  ordinary  children.  —  No 
hard  and  fast  line  can  be  drawn  to  separate  the  abnormal, 
nonsocial,  difficult  disciplinary  cases  from  the  more  ordinary 
children  with  somewhat  normal  social  instincts.  Even  after 


76          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

/Sthe  definitely  defective  children  have  been  removed  from 
public  schools  there  will  remain  children  whose  selfish  and 
nonsocial  instincts  are  so  strong  that  they  will  constantly 
present  problems  of  discipline  unless  firm  conditions  of  con- 
trol are  established  by  the  teacher.    With  such  firm  condPv 
tions  of  control,  such  children  are  kept  in  restraint  and  the  I 
time  and  energy  of  the  group  are  not  wasted.    Without  such  [ 
control,  the  social  waste  of  the  time  and  nervous  energy  ofi.^ 
teachers  and  pupils  is  enormous.   For  this  reason  the  methods  ( 
of  controlling  nonsocial,  difficult  disciplinary  cases  deserve/ 
special  study  by  teachers,  /rne  problem  15  56  complex,  how- 
ever, that  we  cannot  treat  it  here.    Instead,  we  recommend 
that  it  be  carefully  studied  in  references  9  and  10  given  on 
page  83.  With  these  more  difficult  disciplinary  problems  left 
for  intensive  outside  study,  we  shall  turn  to  some  of  the  more 
general  problems  of  maintaining  good  order. 

Ordinary  discipline.  Through  proper  routine  avoid  oppor- 
tunities for  disorder.  —  One  of  the  most  effective  practices 
in  securing  good  order  is  to  avoid  opportunities  for  disorder. 
Some  of  the  mngMrr|pf>rfani-  gfppg  fcp  thisjend  involve  merely 
carrying~ouTthedirections  for  routinizing  classroom_actly*ties 
described  earlier  in  the  chapter.  If  the  first  day  is  begun 
with  a  businesslike  spirit,  if  there  are  certain  definite  tasks 
to  be  accomplished  concerning  which  there  is  a  clear  mutual 
understanding  between  teacher  and  pupils,  if  the  latter  are 
seated  to  the  best  advantage,  if  materials  are  sojpjaced  as 
to  obviate  wastefulmovements,  conflicts,  and  confusion,  if 
the  ventilating  and  lighting  are  so  arranged  as  to  contribute 
to  vitality  and  comfort  instead  of  fatigue,  annoyance,  and 
irritability,  —  if  all  these  matters  are  properly  provided  for, 
then  many  opportunities  for  disorder  are  eliminated. 

Teacher  s  attitude  a  determining  factor ;  authority,  digni- 
fied reserve,  and  friendliness.  —  One  of  the  most  obvious 
facts  in  the  maintenance  of  .good,  ordexjsthe  influence  of 
the  teacher's  attitude  toward  the  class,  particularly  during 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       77 

the  first  few  weeks  and  months.  One  of  the  most  impor- 
tant questions  in  this  connection  concerns  the  proper  bal- 
ance to  strike  between  friendliness  and  dignifiedreserve  in 
order  to  preserve  thorough  respect  by  the  children  for  their 
teacher's  authority.  Excellent  suggestions  along  this  line 
'are  contained  in  the  following  statement  by  a  member  of 
the  Jesuit  order,  which  has  spent  centuries  of  study  upon 
problems  of  discipline  : 

The  master  in  charge  of  the  boys,  especially  in  playtime,  in  his 
first  intercourse  with  them  has  po  greater  snare  in  his  way  than 
taking_his  power  for  granted  and  trusting  to  the  strength  of  his 
will  and  his  knowledge  of  the  world^  especially  as  he  is  at  first 
lulled  into  security  by  the  deferential  manner  of  his  pupils. 

That  master  who  goes  off  with  such  ease  from  the  very  first,  to 
whom  the  carrying  out  of  all  the  rules  seems  the  simplest  thing  in 
the  world,  who_m  the  very  first  hour  he  is  with  them  has  already 
made  himself  liked,  almost  popular  with  his  pupils,  who  shows  no 
more  anxiety  about  his  work  than  hf  must  show  tr>  keep  his  rhar^_ 
acter  for  good  sense — that  master  is  indeed  to  be  pitied;  he  is  most 
likely  a  lost  man.  He  will  soon  have  to  choose  one  of  two  things: 
either  to  shut  his  eyes  and  put  up  with  all  the  irregularities  he 
thought  he  had  done  away  with  or  to  break  with  a  past  that  he 
would  wish  forgotten  and  engage  in  open  conflict  with  the  boys 
who  are  inclined  to  set  him  at  defiance.  These  cases  are,  we  trust, 
rare.  •  But  many  believe  with  a  kind  of  rash  ignorance,  and  in  spite 
of  the  warnings  of  experience,  that  the  good  feelings  of  their  pupils 
will  work  together  to  maintain  their  authority.  They  have  been 
told  that  this  authority  should  be  mild  and  endeared  by  acts  of 
kindness.  ScLthey  set  about  crowning  the  edifice  without  making 
sure  of  the  foundations,  and,  taking  the  title  of  authority  for  its 
possession,  they  spend  all  their  efforts  in  lightening  a  yoke  of  which 
fio  one  really  bears  the  weight. 

In  point  of  fact  the  hrst  steps  often  determine  the  whole  course. 
For  this  reason  you  will  attach  extreme  importance  to  what  I  am 
now  going  to  advise  : 

The  chief  characteristic  in  your  conduct  toward  the  boys  during 
the  first  few  weeks  should  be  an  extreme  reservf.  However  far 


j?8          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

you  go  in  this,  you  can  hardly  overdo  it.  So  your  first  attitude  is 
clearly  defined. 

You  have  everything  to  observe  —  the  individual  character  of 
each  boy  and  the  general  tendencies  and  feelings  of  the  whole  body. 
But  be  sure  of  one  thing,  viz.  that  you  are  observed  also  and  a 
careful  study  is  made  of  both  your  strong  points  and  your  weak. 
Your  way  of  speaking  and  of  giving  orders,  the  tone  of  your  voice, 
your  gestures,  disclose  your  character,  your  tastes,  your  failings, 
to  a  hundred  boys  on  the  alert  to  pounce  upon  them.  One  is 
summed  up  long  before  one  has  the  least  notion  of  it.  Tiy,  then, 
to  remain  impenetrable.  YOJJ  should  never  give  up  your  reserve 
till  you  are  master  of  the  situation. 

.For  the  rest,  let  there  be  no  affectation  about  you.  Don't 
attempt  to  put  on  a  severe  manner;  answer  politely  and  simply 
your  pupils'  questions,  but  let  it  be  in  few  words,  and  avoid  con- 
versation. All  depends  on  that.  Let  there  be  no  chatting  with 
them  in  these  early  days.  You  cannot  be  too  cautious  in  this 
respect.  Boys  have  such  a  polite,  such  a  taking  way  with  them 
in  drawing  out  information  about  your  impressions,  your  tastes, 
your  antecedents ;  don't  attempt  the  diplomat ;  don't  match  your 
skill  against  theirs.  You  cannot  chat  without  coming  out  of  your 
shell,  so  to  speak.  Insteadof~this,  yoTTlnust  puzzle  them  by 
your  reserve  and  drive  them  to  this  admission:  "We  don't  know 
what  to  make  of  our  newjnaster." 

Do  I  advise  you,,  then,  to  be  on  the  defensive  throughout  the 
whole  year  and  like  a  stranger  among  your  pupils  ?  No !  a  thou- 
sand times,  No  I  It  is  just  to  make  their  relations  with  you  simple, 
confiding,  I  might  say  cordial,  without  the  least  danger  to  your 
authority,  that  I  endeavor  to  raise  this  authority  at  first  beyond 
the  reach  of  assault.  (5  :  60-62) 

Wholesome  social  atmosphere  includes  order  and  obedience 
to  authority.  —  I  have  had  many  classes  of  teachers  discuss 
the  above  quotation,  and  the  conclusion  of  the  majority  has 
always  been  that  "  dignified  reserve "  is  one  of  the  best 
terms  we  can  find  to  designate  the  appropriate  attitude  for 
a  teacher  to  take  toward  a  class,  especially  when  this  is 
coupled  with  a  sincere  and  friendly  interest  in  the  progress 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       79 

of  each  pupil.  Certainly  it  is  a  desirable  attitude  in  the 
fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  grades,  where  the  children  are  espe- 
cially quick  to  take  advantage  of  a  susceptible  teacher. 
Even  in  the  kindergarten,  authority  and  obedience  may  be 
established  by  somewhat  similar  means,  as  shown  in  the  fol- 
lowing description  by  Miss  Temple  of  certain  kindergartens 
which  she  observed : 

The  social  atmosphere  in  [these]  kindergartens  is  very  whole- 
some. The  children  are  obedient,  orderly,  courteous,  and  very 
considerate  of  one  another  for  children  so  young.  The  teachers 
have  won  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  children  through  a 
sympathetic  and  respectful  attitude  toward  them  and  through  their 
own  sincerity  and  earnestness.  (8  :  5) 

The  coexistence  of  the  several  terms  in  this  quotation  is 
worth  noting, — obedient,  orderly,  courteous,  considerate,  con- 
fidence, affection,  sympathy,  respect,  sincerity,  earnestness, 
wholesome  social  atmosphere.  They  suggest  an  ideal  picture 
of  a  well-disciplined  situation.  While  the  terms  "  author- 
ity" and  "dignified  reserve"  sound  somewhat  harsher,  they 
are  perfectly  consistent  with  the  other  terms  listed  and 
probably  equally  descriptive  of  the  situation  observed. 

Disorderly  primary  grades  make  troublesome  pupils  for 
later  grades.  —  As  a  rule,  poor  order  below  the  third  grade 
is  not  regarded  as  seriously  as  after  that  grade,  although  it 
entails  just  as  large  waste  and  results  in  very  troublesome 
habits  for  later  teachers  to  overcome.  If  a  second-grade  room 
behaves  like  the  one  described  on  page  56  above,  the  harm 
is  not  so  apparent  as  it  would  be  from  similar  behavior  in  the 
middle  grades,  where  it  would  interfere  more  obviously  and 
seriously  with  the  studying  and  progress  of  pupils.  The  large 
amount  of  activity  which  has  been  introduced  into  primary 
grades  recently  in  the  form  of  plays  and  games,  construction 
and  expression,  has  made  it  difficult  for  some  teachers  to 
distinguish  between  mere  activity  and  disorder  on  the  part 


80         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

of  the  children.  Consequently,  a  disorderly  room  is  often 
mistaken  for  one  in  which  children  are  being  educated 
through  activity.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  children  are 
really  developing  habits  of  lack  of  self-control  which  will 
seriously  hamper  their  later  progress  in  school.  This  fact 
appears  very  prominent  in  some  of  the  so-called  "  model  " 
schools  of  the  country,  where  the  children  in  the  middle 
grades  behave  as  little  imps,  utterly  lacking  in  self-control. 
That  this  is  not  a  necessary  condition  is  suggested  by  the 
kindergarten  situation  described  above,  in  which  the  children 
were  "obedient,  orderly,  courteous,  and  considerate."  If 
kindergarten  children  can  acquire  such  habits,  certainly  first- 
grade  and  second-grade  children  can  also.  With  such  habits, 
the  discipline  in  the  middle  grades  where  children  tend  to 
"  write  notes,"  throw  spitballs,  and  do  sneaky  things  gen- 
erally, ought  to  be  made  easier  instead  of  being  made  more 
difficult  by  the  disregard  for  authority  and  group  interests 
which  results  from  unrestrained  freedom  and  spontaneity 
in  the  primary  grades. 

Simple  rules  desirable ;  abstract  rules  ineffective.  —  As 
the  children  progress  through  the  grades,  they  shculd 
become  habituated  to  certain  standards  or  rules  of  behavior 
which  should  determine  their  conduct.  Even  in  the  kinder- 
garten, simple  rules  are  effective,  such  as  the  following  : 
"  Raise  your  hand  when  you  want  something  or  need  help/' 
"  During  the  story  hour,  when  seated  on  the  floor,  keep 
your  hands  off  other  children."  In  some  kindergartens 
after  such  special  rules  have  been  learned  and  habituated, 
even  the  more  general  rule  "  Do  not  bother  your  neighbors  " 
might  be  made  effective.  The  difficulties  involved  in  such 
general  rules,  however,  are  suggested  by  Thorndike  in  the 
following  quotation  : 

Avoid  making  rules  involving  distinctions  which  the  pupils  can- 
not make.  "  No  communication  between  pupils  without  especial 
permission  except  in  the  five-minute  recesses  between  periods,"  a 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       81 

ten-year-old  can  understand ;  the  distinction  between  a  period  and 
the  five-minute  recess  is  easy.  But  "  No  communication  between 
pupils  that  disturbs  the  work  of  the  class  "  will  be  beyond  him. 
Mr.  A.  C.  Benson  relates  that  a  boy  who  was  rebuked  for  putting 
a  dormouse  down  the  neck  of  a  very  easy-going  master  asked,  in 
all  good  faith,  "  But  how  was  I  to  know  that  he  drew  the  line  at  a 
dormouse  ? "  Rules  which  vary  in  complex  ways  with  attendant 
circumstances  or  with  the  motive  for  the  act  are  unsuitable  for 
young  children  and  for  the  duller  older  children.  Moral  as  well 
as  intellectual  progress  should  be  made  step  by  step  along  clear 
pathways.  (11 :  186) 

Consistent,  decisive  enforcing  of  rules.  —  In  securing 
obedience  to  rules,  two  important  factors  are  consistency 
and  decision  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  The  influence  of 
lack  of  consistency  is  illustrated  by  teachers  and  parents 
who  are  always  threatening  but  never  executing.  They  an- 
nounce that  certain  consequences  will  follow  upon  certain 
acts,  but  they  are  not  consistent  in  carrying  out  their  state- 
ments. Pupils  very  soon  learn  that  they  are  likely  to  escape 
the  consequences  in  many  cases,  and  are  willing  to  take  the 
chances  or  to  gamble  on  the  issue. 

The  influence  of  lack  of  decision  is  illustrated  by  the 
remark  often  made  by  a  distracted  mother  when  she  says  to 
her  child,  "  I  don't  know  what  I  will  do  to  you  if  you  don't 
behave  yourself."  No  doubt  teachers  often  find  themselves 
in  the  same  uncertain  condition,  but  it  does  not  improve 
matters  to  let  the  pupils  know  it.  If  possible,  take  the  time 
which  may  be  necessary  to  determine  upon  the  best  course 
of  action  and  then  proceed  to  carry  out  your  decision. 

Regard  all  offenses  as  against  the  group,  not  the  teacher. 
-The  final  feature  of  maintaining  good  order  which  we 
shall  consider  is  that  each  offense  should  be  regarded  by 
pupils  and  teacher  as  essentially  an  offense  against  the 
class  or  group  whose  progress  is  interfered  with.  A  simple 
example  is  found  in  the  case  of  the  first-grade  child  who 


82         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

is  noisily  playing  with  something  while  the  teacher  is  telling 
an  interesting  story.  The  teacher's  remark,  "  We  shall  have 
to  wait  until  Mary  is  ready  to  listen,"  is  a  good  opener  to 
put  the  situation  in  the  right  light.  It  avoids  the  notion 
that  the  misbehavior  is  an  offense  againstTthe  teacher  or  that 
it  centers  in  a  personal  conflict  between  the  latter  and  the 
offender.  Regarding  the  offense  as  against  the  group 
enables  the  teacher  to  deal  with  it  in  a  purely  objective 
impersonal  manner.  This  will  save  much  emotional  storm 
and  stress  that  entails  an  unfortunate  waste  of  nervous 
energy  for  both  pupils  and  teacher  and  temporarily  impairs 
their  efficiency.  Furthermore,  it  stresses  the  attitude  of 
regard  for  community  rights  and  welfare,  which  is  one__of 
the  essential  factors  in  moral  training. 

Conclusion.  —  This  will  conclude  our  discussion  of  econ- 
omizing time  and  energy  through  effective  routine  in  class- 
room management.  Our  point  of  departure  for  the  discussion 
was  a  comparison  of  the  classroom  with  democratic  social 
conditions.  We  found  that  in  democratic  America  citizens 
are  required  to  be  strictly  obedient  to  the  representative  gov- 
ernment, and  that  effective  conduct  of  American  business 
depends  upon  the  application  of  principles  of  scientific 
business  management.  Paralleling  this  social  situation  in 
the  school  involves  cooperation,  order  and  obedience  on  the 
part  of  the  pupils,  and  careful  routine  provision  for  the  first 
day,  for  the  seating,  assembling,  and  passing  of  pupils,  for 
monitorial  assistance  by  pupils  in  handling  materials,  and  for 
proper  lighting  and  ventilation.  With  desirable  habits  estab- 
lished in  all  these  matters,  much  of  the  time  and  energy  of 
teachers  and  pupils  is  conserved  for  attaining  the  broader 
aims  of  teaching,  —  health,  harmless  enjoyment,  good  will, 
and  social  service.  In  the  next  two  chapters  we  shall  study 
the  principles  determining  the  selection  and  arrangement  of 
subject  matter  to  attain  these  ends. 


ECONOMY  IN  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT       83 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  references  marked  with  an  asterisk  are  especially  recommended 
to  beginners. 

General  discussion.  —  *  i .  BAG  LEY,  W.  C.  Classroom  Management, 
its  Principles  and  Technique.  (The  Macmillan  Company,  1907.)  Ex- 
cellent and  practical.  Chaps,  i-viii  should  be  read  by  all  beginning 
teachers. 

2.  JAMES,  WILLIAM.   *  (a)  Talks  to  Teachers.    (Henry  Holt  and 
Company,   1899.)    Chap,  viii,  on  the  Laws  of  Habit,    (b)  Principles 
of  Psychology,  Vol.  I,  chap.  iv.     One  of  the  most  influential  chapters 
on  behavior.    By  America's  greatest  psychologist. 

3.  THORNDIKE,   E.  L.    Education  for  Initiative  and  Originality. 
Teachers  College  Record,  November,  1916,  Vol.  XVII,  pp.  405-416. 
A  great  psychologist  discusses  balance  between  routine  and  originality. 

3  a.  BENNETT,  H.  E.  School  Efficiency.  (Ginn  and  Company,  1917.) 
Discusses  many  phases  of  school  management  in  a  manner  suited  to 
teachers'  needs. 

Historical.  —  4.  PARKER,  S.  C.  History  of  Modern  Elementary  Edu- 
cation. (Ginn  and  Company,  1912.)  Chap,  v,  on  improvements  in 
classroom  management. 

5.  QUICK,  R.  H.  Educational  Reformers.  (D.  Appleton  and 
Company,  1 890.)  Pp.  60-62,  on  Jesuit  Discipline. 

Kindergarten  and  primary  grades.  —  *  6.  KELLY,  MYRA.  Little 
Citizens,  the  Humors  of  School  Life.  (Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  1904.) 
Humorous  stories  of  a  beginning  teacher  in  a  first-grade  on  the  East 
Side  in  New  York. 

7.  PALMER,  LUELLA  A.  Some  Reconstructive  Movements  within 
the  Kindergarten.  The  Psychological  Clinic,  June,  1913,  Vol.  VII, 
PP.  97-107. 

*8.  TEMPLE,  ALICE.  Survey  of  the  Kindergartens  of  Richmond, 
Indiana.  (The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1917.)  Describes  a  kin- 
dergarten system  as  it  is  and  as  it  should  be.  Practical  discussions  in 
simple  common-sense  language,  contrasting  strongly  with  the  philo- 
sophical wordiness  of  so  many  kindergarten  publications. 

Discipline. — *9-  BAGLEY,W.  C.  School  Discipline.  (The  Macmillan 
Company,  1914.)  Excellent  concrete  treatment.  Simple  language. 

10.  MOREHOUSE,  FRANCES  M.  The  Discipline  of  the  School. 
(D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  1914.)  Scan  the  whole  book  rapidly  and  read  the 
later  practical  chapters  carefully. 

Quoted  incidentally.  —  1 1 .  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.  Principles  of 
Teaching.  (A.  G.  Seiler,  1905.) 


CHAPTER  IV 

SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER 
SOCIAL  AND  RELATIVE  VALUES  ;  SCIENTIFIC  BASIS 

Main  points  of  the  chapter.  —  i .  The  subject  matter  taught  in 
schools  should  change  as  social  needs  change. 

2.  The  most  striking  examples  of  such  changes  historically  are 
the  following : 

a.  Changes  from  oral  to  silent  reading  necessitated  by  increased 
reading  matter,  speed  of  intercommunication,  and  almost  universal 
ability  to  read  in  America. 

b.  Changes  in  arithmetical  content  to  parallel  changes  in  busi- 
ness procedure. 

c.  Development  of   civic-moral  teaching   to  replace  religious- 
moral  teaching  eliminated  from  American  elementary  schools  by 
sectarians. 

d.  Use  in  kindergartens  of  modern  city  activities  to  replace  the 
activities  of  a  German  village  of  1837. 

3.  Social  needs  vary  not  only  historically  but  between  different 
communities  to-day,  and  subject  matter  in  different  schools  should 
vary  accordingly. 

4.  The   adaptation  of  subject  matter  to  meet  varying  social 
needs  is  an  example  of  the  social  point  of  view  represented  by 
Spencer  and  Dewey. 

5.  Variations  in  the  relative  social  values  of  topics  should  be 
carefully  determined  by  scientific  investigations. 

6.  Such  investigations  of  the  writing  vocabularies  of  children 
and  adults  have  reduced  the  number  of  spelling  words  taught  from 
10,000  to  4500. 

7.  To  be  scientific,  such  an  investigation  must  be  mathematically 
precise,  objective,  completely  described  so  it  can  be  verified,  made 
by  an  expert,  and  impartial. 

84 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  85 

Relation  to  preceding  chapters.  —  In  the  two  preceding 
chapters  we  developed  two  fundamental  points  of  view  which 
should  be  coordinated  and  kept  in  mind  as  the  bases  of 
progressive  efficient  teaching.  The  first  emphasized  the 
broadening  purposes  of  elementary-school  teaching  in  train- 
ing for  health,  harmless  enjoyment,  good  will,  and  social 
service.  The  second  point  of  view  emphasized  the  applica- 
tion of  principles  of  effective  business  management  to 
classroom  activity  in  order  to  achieve  progressive  ideals 
economically  and  effectively. 

Having  gained  an  idea  of  the  purposes  that  elementary 
teachers  should  strive  to  achieve,  and  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  administration  that  should  prevail  in  the  class- 
room, we  come  to  our  third  main  topic ;  namely,  the  selec- 
tion of  the  subject  matter  that  is  to  be  used  in  achieving 
the  broad  aims  of  education.  We  shall  discuss  this  topic 
under  the  following  headings  : 

I.  Adapting  subject  matter  to  varying  social  needs. 
II.  Determining  the  relative  values  of  topics. 

III.  Characteristics  of  scientific  procedure  in  selecting 
subject  matter. 

I.  ADAPTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  TO  VARYING  SOCIAL  NEEDS 

Adapting  subject  matter  to  varying  social  needs  continues 
social  point  of  view. — We  reached  many  of  our  conclusions 
in  the  preceding  chapters  by  studying  social  life  outside  the 
school  in  order  to  determine  what  the  schools  should  do. 
For  example,  we  found  American  life  characterized  by 
(i)  democratic  representative  government,  (2)  intricate  inter- 
dependence resulting  from  the  specialization  of  industry  and 
the  subdivision  of  labor,  (3)  scientific  business  management. 
For  each  of  these  we  discussed  corresponding  features  of 
schooling.  Similarly,  we  shall  open  the  discussion  of  sub- 
ject matter  from  the  social  standpoint  and,  for  concreteness, 


86         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

shall  begin  with  the  teaching  of  reading,  which  occupies  such 
an  important  place  in  elementary  schools. 

Reading :  social  change  from  oral  reading  to  rapid  silent 
reading.  —  In  considering  the  adaptation  of  our  teaching  of 
reading  to  meet  social  needs,  we  shall  consider  first  the  rela- 
tive social  importance  of  oral  reading  and  of  rapid  silent 
reading.  The  facts  to  be  emphasized  are  (i)  that  rapid  silent 
reading  is  very  important  now  and  "  expressive  "  oral  read- 
ing relatively  unimportant,  (2)  that  skilled  oral  reading  was 
very  important  at  an  earlier  period  and  as  a  consequence 
has  retained  a  place  in  the  school  which  it  no  longer  de- 
serves. We  shall  begin  our  discussion  with  a  picture  of  the 
reading  situation  outside  of  schools  about  the  time  of  our 
Revolutionary  War. 

Oral  reading  important  about  1776;  scanty  reading  facili- 
ties.—  In  getting  a  picture  of  the  reading  situation  in  Amer- 
ica about  1776,  we  shall  consider  the  small  number  of  books 
and  periodicals  available,  the  slowness  of  communication  by 
mail,  the  inability  of  many  people  to  read,  and  the  conse- 
quent value  of  oratory  and  eloquence  in  politics.  The  small 
number  of  books  available  has  already  been  suggested  by 
the  narrow  curriculum  of  the  elementary  schools  described 
in  Chapter  II.  There  it  was  indicated  that  until  1750  all 
the  reading  matter  in  most  of  the  elementary  schools  con- 
sisted of  the  "  New  England  Primer,"  or  some  similar  primer, 
and  the  Bible.  In  many  of  the  poorer  homes  in  the  early 
colonial  period  the  Bible  was  the  only  book  for  adult  read- 
ing, supplemented  in  some  homes  by  a  few  other  religious 
books  such  as  Wigglesworth's  "The  Day  of  Doom,  or  a 
Poetical  Description  of  the  Great  and  Last  Judgment  with 
a  Short  Discourse  on  Eternity."  In  a  few  favored  homes 
a  small  "  chest "  of  books  constituted  a  treasured  library. 

Franklin  s  improvements  illustrate  poor  colonial  facili- 
ties. —  A  number  of  improvements  had  been  made  in  the 
reading  situation  in  America  by  the  time  of  the  Revolution, 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  87 

but  even  these  may  be  used  to  show  how  scanty  the  reading 
facilities  were.  Some  of  these  improvements  are  associated 
with  the  work  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  the  leading  publisher 
of  the  period.  Everyone  is  familiar  with  "  Poor  Richard's 
Almanac "  and  its  witty  sayings.  Franklin  published  the 
first  number  of  the  Almanac  when  he  was  twenty-six 
years  old  (1732)  and  continued  to  issue  numbers  annually 
for  twenty-five  years.  The  library  of  many  a  farmer  con- 
sisted of  the  family  Bible  and  one  or  more  numbers  of  this 
famous  almanac. 

In  the  publication  of  his  almanac,  Franklin  was  not  pecu- 
liar, however,  since  almanacs  constituted  the  most  popular 
periodical  literature  of  the  day.  Speaking  of  this  fact, 
McMaster  says  : 

The  almanac  was  the  one  piece  of  literature  of  which  the  sale 
was  sure.  Not  a  household  for  a  hundred  miles  around  the  printer 
but,  if  there  was  sixpence  to  spare,  would  have  a  copy.  In  remote 
towns,  where  money  was  not  to  be  had,  a  dozen  copies  would  be 
bought  with  potatoes  or  wheat,  and  disposed  of  one  by  one, — 
at  the  blacksmith's  for  a  few  nails  ;  at  the  tavern  for  rum  ;  at  some 
neighbor's  in  payment  of  a  trifling  debt.  Chapmen  carried  them 
in  their  packs  to  exchange  with  copper  kettles  and  china  bowls, 
for  worsted  stockings  and  knit  gloves.  They  were  the  diaries,  the 
journals,  the  account  books  of  the  poor.  Strung  upon  a  stick  and 
hung  beside  the  chimneyplace,  they  formed  an  unbroken  record  of 
domestic  affairs,  in  many  instances  for  thirty  years.  On  the  mar- 
gins of  one  since  picked  up  at  a  paper  mill  are  recorded  the  inter- 
esting cases  of  a  physician's  practice,  and  the  names  of  those  who 
suffered  with  the  smallpox  and  the  flux.  Another  has  become  a 
complete  journal  of  farm  life.  A  third  is  filled  with  verses  written 
in  imitation  of  Pope  and  Young. 

It  is  not  by  mere  chance  that  the  second  piece  of  printing  done 
in  the  colonies,  and  the  first  piece  done  in  the  middle  states,  were 
almanacs.  Samuel  Atkins  told  no  more  than  plain  truth  when,  in 
the  preface  to  "  Kalendarium  Pennsilvaniense,"  he  declared  that 


88          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

wherever  he  went  in  his  travels  he  found  the  people  so  clamorous 
for  an  almanac  that  he  was  "  really  troubled,"  and  did  design 
according  to  his  knowledge  to  "  pleasure  his  countrymen  "  with 
what  they  wanted.  (11 :  98) 

Franklin's  establishment  of  the  first  circulating  library 
in  America,  in  1732,  in  Philadelphia,  also  illustrates  the 
primitive  reading  facilities  of  the  day. 

The  slowness  of  communication  by  mail  is  illustrated  by 
Franklin's  work  as  postmaster-general,  beginning  in  1753. 

In  his  hands  the  whole  system  of  the  post  office  underwent  a 
complete  change.  He  straightened  the  routes;  he  cut  down 
the  postage ;  he  forced  the  postriders  to  hasten  their  pace  ;  he 
opened  the  mail  bags  to  newspapers  by  whomsoever  printed,  and 
made  their  carriage  a  source  of  revenue  to  the  crown ;  he  estab- 
lished the  penny  post  in  the  large  towns ;  and  for  the  first  time 
advertised  unclaimed  letters  in  the  newspapers.  Mails  that  used 
to  go  out  but  once  a  week  began  under  him  to  go  out  three  times 
as  often.  Riders  who  in  the  winter  used  to  make  the  trip  from 
Philadelphia  to  New  York  but  twice  each  month  now,  in  the 
coldest  weather,  went  over  the  route  once  a  week.  (11:  158) 

Neglect  of  primary  education  lessened  number  of  readers. 
-  It  is  obvious  that  in  such  a  situation,  with  few  books  and 
periodicals  and  very  slow  intercommunication,  there  was  not 
much  reading  by  the  masses,  apart  from  Bible  reading. 
Moreover,  many  persons  could  not  read,  the  neglect  of  pri- 
mary education  being  very  startling  in  many  places  such  as 
Boston,  New  York  City,  rural  Pennsylvania,  and  in  many 
places  in  the  South. 

Democratic  interest  in  public  questions  placed  premium  on 
oratory.  —  Yet  there  were  many  public  questions  in  which 
the  common  people  of  the  colonies  were  vitally  interested 
and  concerning  which  the  leaders  wanted  decisive  action. 
These  questions  centered  in  the  struggle  with  England  be- 
fore the  Revolution  and  in  the  political  struggles  between  the 
various  parties  after  the  Revolution.  Consequently  oratory 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  89 

was  depended  upon  to  arouse  and  influence  the  people  to 
an  extent  that  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  appreciate  to-day, 
unless  we  live  in  a  part  of  the  United  States  where  the 
schools  are  very  poor,  newspapers  and  periodicals  very 
scarce,  and  oratory,  as  a  consequence,  still  flourishing.  An 
exaggerated  parallel  to  our  colonial  condition  is  found  in 
the  Russian  revolutionary  situation  of  1917.  In  Russia  there 
was  the  same  intense  interest  in  a  democratic  revolution  as 
there  was  in  America.  Reading  matter  was  equally  scarce 
in  the  rural  districts  and  the  illiteracy  probably  more  gen- 
eral. In  Russia,  as  a  consequence  of  the  illiteracy,  the  revo- 
lutionary government  became  largely  an  orgy  of  oratory. 
The  illiterate  soldiers  being  unable  and  unaccustomed  to 
read  and  to  study  out  problems  for  themselves  were  easily 
swayed  by  the  glowing  promises  of  persuasive  orators. 

Eloquence  emphasised  in  early  school  readers  owing  to  its 
social  value.  —  The  social  importance  of  oratory  in  America 
about  the  time  of  the  Revolution  found  its  counterpart  in  the 
emphasis  on  oratory,  eloquence,  and  expressive  reading  in 
the  school  readers.  One  of  the  first  and  most  successful  of 
these  bore  evidence  to  this  fact  in  its  title,  namely,  Bingham's 
"  Columbian  Orator,"  published  in  1797. 

The  title-page  of  this  reader,  which  rivaled  Webster's  in 
popularity,  is  shown  on  page  90.  Following  this  page  were 
about  twenty-five  pages  discussing  the  art  of  eloquence. 
Then  came  the  selections  for  reading  and  declamation. 
The  first  page  of  these  selections  and  the  introductory  head- 
ing are  shown  on  page  93.  The  emphasis  on  the  art  of 
eloquence  as  the  supreme  aim  of  reading  is  evident  in  all 
these  parts  of  the  book.  Among  the  selections  are  the  fol- 
lowing lines,  which  were  almost  universally  recited,  with 
minor  changes,  in  all  the  "  little  red  schoolhouses "  of 
America  down  to  1850.  In  reading  this  early  edition  notice 
the  national  pride  in  "  Columbia's  soil "  and  the  state  pride 
represented  by  "  Massachusetts  boast." 


THE 

COLUMBIAN  ORATOR. 

CONTAINING 

A  VARIETY  OF 

ORIGINAL  AND  SELECTED  PIECES 

TOGETHER  WITH 

RULES; 

CALCULATED 

TO  IMPROVE  YOUTH  AND  OTHERS  IN  THE 

ORNAMENTAL    AND  USEFUL 

ART  OF  ELOQUENCE. 


By  CALEB  BINGHAM,  A.  M. 

Author  of,  the  American  Preceptor,  Young  Lady's  Accidence,  Ac. 


CATO  cultivated    ELOQUENCE,  as  a  necessary   mean    for   defending  THE 
RIGHTS  OF  THE  PEOPLE,  and  for  euforcing  good  Counsels." 

KOLLIK. 


Illustrated  by  title-page  of  a  popular  reader,  originally  published  in  1797.    Note  the, 
frequent  reference  to  eloquence  and  its  connection  with  political  conditions 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  91 

LINES  SPOKEN  AT  A  SCHOOL-EXHIBITION,  BY  A  LITTLE 
BOY  SEVEN  YEARS  OLD 

You  'd  scarce  expect  one  of  my  age, 

To  speak  in  public,  on  the  stage ; 

And  if  I  chance  to  fall  below 

Demosthenes  or  Cicero, 

Don't  view  me  with  a  critic's  eye, 

But  pass  my  imperfections  by. 

Large  streams  from  little  fountains  flow ; 

Tall  oaks  from  little  acorns  grow : 

And  though  I  now  am  small  and  young, 

Of  judgment  weak,  and  feeble  tongue  ; 

Yet  all  great  learned  men,  like  me, 

Once  learn'd  to  read  their  A,  B,  C. 

But  why  may  not  Columbia's  soil 

Rear  men  as  great  as  Britain's  isle ; 

Exceed  what  Greece  and  Rome  have  done, 

Or  any  land  beneath  the  sun  ? 

May  n't  Massachusetts  boast  as  great 

As  any  other  sister  state  ? 

Or,  where 's  the  town,  go  far  and  near, 

That  does  not  find  a  rival  here  ? 

Or  where 's  the  boy,  but  three  feet  high, 

Who 's  made  improvements  more  than  I  ? 

These  thoughts  inspire  my  youthful  mind 

To  be  the  greatest  of  mankind ; 

Great,  not  like  Caesar,  stain'd  with  blood ; 

But  only  great,  as  I  am  good. 

The  prefaces  of  the  readers  during  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century  vie  with  each  other  in  proving  that 
each  offers  superior  training  in  enunciation,  declamation, 
and  elocution.  Even  as  late  as  1854  we  find  the  following 
statement  in  a  preface  : 

As  an  accurate  and  distinct  articulation  forms  the  basis  of  good 
reading,  it  should  receive  our  first  attention  in  instruction,  and  be 
constantly  taught  until  words  are  habitually  delivered  out  from  the 


92          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

lips  as  beautiful  coins  newly  issued  from  the  mint,  deeply  and 
accurately  impressed,  perfectly  finished,  neatly  struck  by  the 
proper  organs,  distinct,  in  due  succession,  and  of  due  weight. 

Thus  we  see  how  expressive  oral  reading  secured  its 
prominent  place  in  the  schools  in  response  to  the  need  for 
oratory  and  eloquence  in  a  relatively  primitive  democratic 
community  where  books,  newspapers,  and  periodicals  were 
scarce,  intercommunication  very  slow,  and  many  persons 
unable  to  read  silently  effectively. 

Silent  reading  now  important ;  oral  infrequent.  Books 
and  periodicals  numerous  ;  intercommunication  rapid ;  read- 
ing universal.  —  In  contrast  with  the  Revolutionary  War  situ- 
ation, we  may  picture  conditions  at  the  present  time  in  the 
United  States.  Free  city  libraries  contain  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  books  which  are  delivered  conveniently  through 
branch  libraries  within  easy  walking  distance  of  most  homes. 
Many  small  towns  have  their  free  Carnegie  libraries.  Con- 
venient libraries  abound  where  for  two  or  three  cents  a  day 
the  latest  books  of  fiction  may  be  rented  and  taken  home. 
Hundreds  of  periodicals  appear  weekly  or  monthly  in  the 
news  stands  in  the  large  cities,  and  a  score  appear  even  in 
the  small  towns.  News  is  transmitted  so  rapidly  by  wire 
that  President  Wilson's  famous  statement  of  America's 
war  aims,  issued  in  1918,  was  received  in  all  the  larger 
cities  all  over  the  world  within  a  few  hours  after  he  read 
it  to  Congress  in  Washington.  As  a  result  of  the  work 
of  the  public  schools,  most  adults  in  the  United  States 
can  read,  the  number  of  illiterate  adults  being  only  8  per 
cent  in  1910.  In  the  more  favored  states  even  a  smaller 
number  is  found ;  for  example,  less  than  2  per  cent  in 
Iowa  and  Nebraska. 

Yet  many  adults  neglect  wide  effective  silent  reading.  — 
Yet,  while  nearly  everybody  can  read  and  does  read  silently, 
it  remains  to  note  whether  they  read  enough  or  effectively 
enough.  The  following  example  will  probably  serve  to 


PRACTICAL  PIECES  FOR  SPEAKING; 

CONSISTING   OF 

ORATIONS,  ADDRESSES,  EXHORTATIONS 
FROM  THE  PULPIT,  PLEADINGS  AT  THK 
BAR,  SUBLIME  DESCRIPTIONS,  DEBATES, 
DECLAMATIONS,  GRAVE  AND  HUMOR- 
OUS  DIALOGUES,  POETRY,  &c.  VARIOUSLY 

INTERSPERSED. 


EXTRACT     FROM     AN      ORATION      ON      ELOQUENCE, 
PRONOUNCED  AT  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY,  ON  COM 
MENCEMENT  DAY,  1784. 


THE  excellence,  utility,  and  importance  of  ELO- 
QUENCE ;  its  origin,  progress,  and  present  state ; 
and  its  superior  claim  to  the  particular  attention  of 
Columbia's  free  born  sons,  will  exercise  for  a  few  mo- 
ments the  patience  of  this  learned,  polite,  and  respected 
assembly. 

Speech  and  reason  are  the  characteristics,  the  glory, 
and  the  happiness  of  man.  These  are  the  pillars  which 
support  the  fair  fabric  ofcloqucr.ee;  the  foundation, 
upon  which  is  erected  the  most  magnificent  edifice,  that 
genius  could  design,  or  art  construct.  To  cultivate  elo- 
quence, then,  is  to  improve  the  noblest  faculties  of  our 
nature,  the  richest  talents  with  which  we  are  entrusted. 
A  more  convincing  proof  of  the  dignity  and  importance 
of  our  subject  need  not,  cannot  be  advanced. 

The  benevolent  design  and  the  beneficial  effects  ot 

i  O  .  i 

eloquence,  evince  its  great  superiority  over  every  other 

art,  which  ever  exercised  the  ingenuity  of  man.     To 

tract,  to.  persuade    to  please ;  these  are  its  objects. 

TCI 


HISTORICAL  ORIGIN  OF  EMPHASIS  ON  ORAL  READING 

Illustrated  by  praise  of  eloquence  for  "Columbia's  free-born  sons,"  in  the  first 
selection  from  Bingham's  "Columbian  Orator,"  originally  published  in  1797 


94         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

illustrate  that  many  persons  need  more  effective  training 
in  rapid  silent  reading. 

Example.  —  In  January,  1918,  America  had  been  in  the  war 
about  nine  months.  The  efficiency  of  the  War  Department  was 
being  seriously  questioned  by  certain  prominent  persons  and 
newspapers,  and  the  resulting  controversy  aroused  great  in- 
terest on  the  part  of  the  public.  The  reading  habits  of  this 
public  are  well  illustrated  by  the  following  facts  and  incidents. 

Social  information.  —  The  Secretary  of  War  spent  a  whole 
day  addressing  a  gathering  of  members  of  Congress  and 
others,  explaining  the  steps  taken  in  preparation  for  the  war, 
in  order,  as  he  said,  that  all  citizens  might  know  the  facts 
and  judge  for  themselves.  In  the  newspapers,  his  address 
filled  almost  three  pages. 

Slow  oral  reading.  —  A  woman  decided  to  read  this  im- 
portant information  to  her  family.  She  read  aloud  for  forty- 
five  minutes,  and  then  had  to  desist,  as  she  was  hoarse. 
She  had  read  about  one  fifth  of  the  address. 

Rapid  silent  reading.  —  Another  member  of  the  family 
who  does  much  rapid  silent  reading  then  decided  to  finish 
reading  the  address  for  himself.  Reading  actively  and 
silently,  in  forty-five  minutes  he  was  able  to  glean  all  the 
essential  facts  of  the  remaining  four  fifths. 

Social  neglect  of  silent  reading.  —  The  next  day  three 
adults,  with  nothing  to  do  except  loaf  at  a  winter  resort,  were 
heard  roundly  condemning  the  Secretary  for  his  address. 
Upon  being  asked  if  they  had  read  it,  they  said,  "  No,  it  is 
too  long."  They  were  basing  their  condemnation  on  a 
one-third  column  editorial  in  a  newspaper  politically  opposed 
to  the  administration.  Yet  the  Secretary  had  said  that  the 
facts  were  being  presented  fully  so  that  citizens  might  know 
them  and  judge  for  themselves. 

Schools  should  subordinate  oral  and  emphasize  silent 
reading.  —  This  example  is  typical  of  the  present  social 
need  for  training  in  habits  of  wide,  effective,  rapid  silent 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  95 

reading.  On  the  other  hand,  the  social  need  for  training  in 
expressive  oral  reading  which  prevailed  earlier  in  our  history 
has  almost  entirely  disappeared.  Yet  many  schools  continue 
to  emphasize  expressive  oral  reading  and  to  neglect  almost 
entirely  training  in  effective  rapid  silent  reading. 

Adapting  arithmetic  to  social  needs.  Obsolete  and  new 
topics.  —  The  second  subject  which  we  shall  use  to  illustrate 
the  adapting  of  subject  matter  to  changing  social  needs  is 
arithmetic.  Arithmetic  is  taught  primarily  for  its  utility  in 
business  operations  and  in  various  kinds  of  measurement. 
As  the  business  processes  change  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, the  arithmetic  taught  in  the  schools  should  change 
accordingly.  For  example,  English  money  was  at  one  time 
the  dominant  currency  in  the  colonies.  Then  the  table  of 
English  money  was  very  important  in  American  arithmetic. 
Now  it  has  little  social  value.  Before  the  establishment  of 
a  federal  money  in  1786  decimal  fractions  were  little  used 
in  America  ;  consequently  elaborate  operations  with  common 
fractions  had  to  be  taught  in  the  schools.  Now  decimals  are 
used  in  social  life  for  nearly  all  complicated  fractional 
calculations.  Hence  the  use  of  common  fractions  in  such 
calculations  is  socially  wasteful  and  should  be  omitted  from 
arithmetic  teaching. 

Management  of  modern  social  activities  is  largely  quan- 
titative.— Similarly,  many  new  forms  of  business  activity 
have  developed  in  which  arithmetic  is  used  very  extensively 
and  which  are  important  in  the  lives  of  many  persons  ;  for 
example,  life  insurance,  savings  accounts,  checking  accounts, 
etc.  In  the  upper  grades  of  the  elementary  schools  the 
study  of  these  social  activities  is  being  introduced,  and 
training  is  given  in  the  arithmetical  processes  involved. 
Furthermore,  arithmetic  is  acquiring  an  increasing  im- 
portance in  school,  owing  to  the  tendency  to  use  it  more 
and  more  in  the  scientific  business  management  of  all 
affairs,  —  industrial,  commercial,  educational,  philanthropic, 


96         TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

and  so  on.    This  fact  is  well  expressed  by  Bobbitt  in  the 
following  quotation  : 

The  probabilities  are  that  the  social  and  vocational  conditions 
of  the  coming  generation  will  require  that  everybody  be  more 
mathematical-minded  than  at  present. 

The  content  of  mathematics  courses  is  to  be  determined  by 
human  needs.  One  of  the  fundamental  needs  of  the  age  upon 
which  we  are  now  entering  is  accurate  quantitative  thinking  in  the 
fields  of  one's  vocation,  in  the  supervision  of  our  many  cooperative 
governmental  labors,  in  our  economic  thinking  with  reference  to 
taxation,  expenditures,  insurance,  public  utilities,  civic  improve- 
ments, pensions,  corporations,  and  the  multitude  of  other  civic 
and  vocational  matters.  (l(a) :  46) 

From  religious-moral  instruction  to  civic-moral  instruction. 
Colonial  morality  based  on  Ten  Commandments  and  fear 
of  Satan,  —  Our  third  example  of  adapting  subject  matter 
to  changing  social  needs  is  the  organization  of  moral  and 
civic  training  to  take  the  place  of  the  training  in  religion 
which  has  been  eliminated  from  public  schools.  In  the 
chapter  on  broadening  purposes  of  elementary  teaching  we 
noted  that  the  dominant  purpose  in  early  New  England 
elementary  schools  was  to  train  children  to  avoid  sin  and 
Satan.  Throughout  history  similar  religious  teaching  has 
been  depended  upon  to  a  large  extent  to  train  children  to 
behave  themselves.  Examples  of  this  teaching  are  to  be 
found  to-day  in  the  fact  that  most  persons  derive  their 
notions  against  stealing,  lying,  swearing,  etc.  from  the 
Ten  Commandments. 

Religion  eliminated  from  public  schools  by  sectarians.  — 
During  the  nineteenth  century,  however,  religious  teaching 
was  gradually  eliminated  from  American  public  schools. 
This  elimination  was  not  brought  about  by  persons  opposed 
to  religion,  but  by  intense  sectarian  religionists  who  were 
afraid  of  the  interpretations  that  teachers  of  a  different  sect 
might  place  upon  Biblical  matters.  One  legal  basis  for  the 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  97 

elimination  of  religion  was  found  in  the  American  theory 
of  the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  the  public  schools 
being  state  institutions. 

Civic-moral  teaching  being  developed.  —  The  disappear- 
ance of  religious  instruction  from  the  public  schools  is  one 
of  our  most  striking  examples  of  the  change  in  subject 
matter  paralleling  a  change  in  social  life  generally.  The 
elimination  of  religious  teaching  left  moral  training  in  the 
schools  without  sanction  or  force  in  many  instances.  Yet 
the  congested  city  life  and  the  intricate  social  interdepend- 
ence resulting  from  the  industrial  revolution  created  a  very 
serious  need  for  moral  training.  Efforts  to  meet  this  need 
by  organizing  civic-moral  teaching  are  being  made  at  the 
present  time. 

Social  changes  influencing  kindergarten.  From  rural  vil- 
lage of  1837  to  'modern  city  of  electricity  and  automobiles. 
—  Our  fourth  and  final  example  of  changing  subject  matter 
to  meet  changing  social  needs  is  found  in  the  kindergarten. 
The  first  kindergarten  was  established  in  1837,  in  a  small 
German  village,  by  Friedrich  Froebel  (1782—1852).  One 
of  Froebel's  great  ideas  in  establishing  this  school  for  little 
children  was  to  make  it  a  miniature  society  in  which  the 
processes  of  the  home  and  community  would  be  reproduced 
in  play,  and  the  children  thus  introduced  to  a  study  of  social 
activities.  It  seems  quite  obvious  that  success  in  doing  this 
in  any  kindergarten  would  depend  upon  beginning  with  the 
activities  of  the  homes  and  the  community  in  which  that 
kindergarten  happens  to  be  located.  Strange  to  say,  how- 
ever, for  decades  kindergartens  restricted  themselves  to  using 
the  activities  and  situations  which  Froebel  had  found  in  his 
little  German  village,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  many  of 
the  situations  of  modern  city  life  were  not  represented  there. 
Progressive  modern  kindergartens,  however,  are  more  con- 
sistent in  carrying  out  Froebel's  fundamental  idea,  and  they 
begin  with  the  activities  which  the  little  ones  may  have  an 


98          TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

opportunity  to  actually  witness.  Since  charcoal  burners  and 
blacksmith  shops  are  very  scarce  in  many  city  neighborhoods, 
these  examples  from  Froebel's  list  are  omitted.  Since  auto- 
mobiles are  frequent,  they  are  likely  to  be  added.  In  one 
kindergarten  in  Chicago,  the  children  spend  considerable 
time  studying  and  constructing  the  station  of  an  elevated 
railway  which  passes  near  the  school  and  which  is  one  of 
the  most  important  factors  in  this  community. 

Adapting  subject  matter  to  different  communities  to-day. 
Kindergarten  changes  illustrate  both  historical  and  local 
adaptation.  —  The  adaptation  of  kindergarten  activities  to 
the  local  community  illustrates  another  phase  of  the  social 
adaptation  of  subject  matter  which  we  have  been  discussing. 
In  the  change  from  oral  to  silent  reading,  from  colonial  arith- 
metic to  twentieth-century  arithmetic,  from  religious-moral 
teaching  to  civic-moral  teaching,  and  from  Froebel's  rural 
village  of  1837  to  the  modern  city  of  steam,  electricity,  and 
automobiles,  we  were  emphasizing  the  historical  variations 
in  social  needs  and  parallel  changes  in  subject  matter.  But 
social  needs  vary  also  between  different  communities  to-day. 
Perhaps  the  most  striking  examples  are  found  in  the  kinder- 
gartens, as  shown  in  the  contrast  between  the  attractive  pic- 
ture of  immaculate  kindergarten  children  on  page  16  and 
the  statement  by  Miss  Palmer  that  in  many  slum  kinder- 
gartens much  of  the  work  of  the  early  weeks  centers  in 
training  the  children  to  keep  themselves  clean.  In  kinder- 
gartens for  negro  children  special  emphasis  may  be  placed 
on  singing  and  dancing  because  of  the  large  part  which 
rhythmic  activities  play  in  the  social  life  of  negroes.  Another 
striking  example  of  community  adaptation  is  found  in  the 
first  grades  filled  with  children  from  homes  where  a  foreign 
language  is  spoken.  The  problem  of  teaching  reading,  spell- 
ing, and  language  in  such  rooms  is  very  different  from  that 
in  most  first  grades.  Similarly,  variations  for  rural  and  city 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  99 

children  could  be  described  in  several  subjects,  but  sufficient 
examples  have  been  given  to  impress  the  idea  that  as  social 
needs  change,  subject  matter  should  change.  Often  subject 
matter  is  retained,  however,  which  was  adapted  to  a  social 
situation  which  no  longer  exists.  Often  a  social  need  exists 
for  a  long  time  before  appropriate  subject  matter  is  intro- 
duced into  the  schools.  Teachers  should  be  alert  to  com- 
prehend the  social  needs  of  the  community  in  which  they 
work  and  be  actively  progressive  in  adapting  their  teaching 
to  these  needs. 

General  social  point  of  view  emphasized  by  great  sociolo- 
gist, Spencer.  —  As  already  suggested,  the  habit  of  thinking 
of  adapting  teaching  to  present-day  social  needs  is  known 
as  the  social  point  of  view  in  education.  We  worked  from 
this  point  of  view  when  we  studied  the  broadening  aims  of 
teaching  in  relation  to  our  interdependent  democratic  society, 
and  when  we  paralleled  modern  scientific  business  manage- 
ment with  effective  classroom  management.  Our  discussion 
of  adapting  subject  matter  has  furnished  further  concrete 
examples.  One  of  the  leading  exponents  of  this  general 
social  method  of  thinking  was  Herbert  Spencer  (1820-1903), 
the  great  English  writer  on  sociology.  When  Spencer  died, 
in  1903,  the  greatness  of  his  influence  was  attested  by  arti- 
cles concerning  him  which  appeared  in  nearly  all  periodicals 
and  newspapers.  The  study  of  sociology,  which  was  one 
phase  of  Spencer's  life  work,  concerns  the  life  of  social 
groups,  their  institutions,  their  industries,  government,  reli- 
gion, morals,  superstitions,  science,  art,  etc.  Naturally  in 
his  study  of  social  activities,  Spencer  interested  himself  in 
education  and  wrote  a  series  of  very  influential  essays  con- 
cerning it.  The  most  notable  of  these,  entitled  "  What 
Knowledge  is  Most  Worth,"  was  published  in  1859.  In  it 
Spencer  examined  English  social  life  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  changes  which  the  industrial  revolution  and  applied 


100        TEACHING  IN' ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

science  had  brought  about,  and  then  criticized  severely  English 
education  for  failing  to  keep  pace  with  social  progress.  He  said : 

That  which  our  school  courses  leave  almost  entirely  out  we 
find  to  be  that  which  most  nearly  concerns  the  business  of  life. 
.  .  .  Had  there  been  no  teaching  but  such  as  is  given  in  our 
public  schools,  England  would  now  be  what  it  was  in  feudal  times. 

Read  Spencer.  —  Spencer's  style  is  so  concrete,  vivid,  and 
convincing  that  all  beginning  teachers  ought  to  read  this 
essay,  which  is  published  as  the  first  chapter  of  his  book 
entitled  "  Education."  The  chapter  contains,  besides  the 
general  social  point  of  view,  many  valuable  ideas,  such  as 
the  definition  of  education  as  "  training  for  complete  liv- 
ing," which  we  used  in  Chapter  II,  and  an  "analysis  of 
life's  activities,"  which  parallels  our  statement  of  social  aims 
given  on  page  35. 

Spencer's  opinions  important  but  not  infallible.  —  In  read- 
ing Spencer,  however,  it  is  important  to  remember  that  much 
of  what  he  says  is  merely  his  own  opinion,  and  there  are 
possibilities  of  his  being  mistaken.  As  in  recent  years,  so 
in  Spencer's  day,  the  exact  scientific  facts  were  lacking  to 
determine  the  real  truth  about  many  educational  questions. 
The  characteristics  of  such  scientific  facts  we  shall  discuss 
later.  In  their  absence,  we  often  have  to  depend  on  the 
opinions  of  men  of  genius  who  have  devoted  much  time  to  the 
study  of  educational  questions.  Spencer  was  one  of  these. 

Dewey  also  emphasized  social  viewpoint ;  opinions  need 
scientific  testing.  —  Another  great  thinker  and  writer  who 
more  recently  has  emphasized  the  social  point  of  view  in 
education  is  Professor  John  Dewey  of  Columbia  University. 
Dewey 's  "School  of  Society,"  published  in  1899,  took  its 
point  of  departure,  as  did  Spencer,  from  the  industrial 
revolution,  and  proposed  certain  changes  in  elementary- 
school  work  to  correspond.  The  book  is  easily  read.  In 
reading  it,  however,  just  as  in  reading  Spencer,  students 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  101 

should  remember  that  many  of  the  suggestions  made  are 
merely  Dewey's  opinions,  and  while  they  carry  great  weight 
as  the  expressions  of  one  of  America's  greatest  thinkers, 
some  may  not  be  found  true  when  tested  by  scientific  evi- 
dence. The  meaning  of  "  scientific  evidence  "  will  become 
clearer  in  the  next  section  of  this  chapter  on  methods  of 
determining  the  relative  values  of  topics. 

II.    DETERMINING  THE  RELATIVE  VALUES  OF  TOPICS 

Need  to  determine  which  valuable  topics  are  most  valu- 
able. —  When  a  teacher  begins  to  study  the  social  values 
of  subject  matter,  she  may  soon  find  that  the  social  needs 
are  so  numerous,  or  the  material  so  plentiful,  or  the  time 
so  limited,  that  she  will  have  to  select  carefully  from  cur- 
rent valuable  subject  matter  that  which  is  most  valuable  for 
the  children  she  is  teaching. 

Spencers  classic  discussion  of  relative  values.  —  The  ques- 
tion of  relative  values  which  thus  arises  is  another  of  the 
issues  which  Spencer  discussed  most  effectively.  The  title 
of  his  essay  "  What  Knowledge  is  Most  Worth  "  is  a  strik- 
ing phrasing  of  the  question.  His  vigorous  presentation  of 
the  problem  is  contained  in  the  following  quotation  : 

The  question  which  we  contend  is  of  such  transcendent  moment 
is  not  whether  such  or  such  knowledge  is  of  worth,  but  what  is  its 
relative  worth  ?  When  they  have  named  certain  advantages  which 
a  given  course  of  study  has  secured  them,  persons  are  apt  to  assume 
that  they  have  justified  themselves,  quite  forgetting  that  the  ade- 
quateness  of  the  advantage  is  the  point  to  be  judged.  There  is, 
perhaps,  not  a  subject  to  which  men  devote  attention  that  has  not 
some  value.  A  year  diligently  spent  in  getting  up  heraldry  would 
very  possibly  give  a  little  insight  into  ancient  manners  and  morals 
and  into  the  origin  of  names.  Anyone  who  should  learn  the  dis- 
tances between  all  the  towns  in  England  might,  in  the  course  of 
his  life,  find  one  or  two  of  the  thousand  facts  he  had  acquired  of 
some  slight  service  when  arranging  a  journey.  Gathering  together 


102        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

all  the  small  gossip  of  a  county,  profitless  occupation  as  it  would 
be,  might  yet  occasionally  help  to  establish  some  useful  fact — say, 
a  good  example  of  hereditary  transmission.  But  in  these  cases 
everyone  would  admit  that  there  was  no  proportion  between  the 
required  labor  and  the  probable  benefit.  No  one  would  tolerate 
the  proposal  to  devote  some  years  of  a  boy's  time  to  getting  such 
information,  at  the  cost  of  much  more  valuable  information  which 
he  might  else  have  got.  And  if  here  the  test  of  relative  value  is 
appealed  to  and  held  conclusive,  then  should  it  be  appealed  to  and 
held  conclusive  throughout.  Had  we  time  to  master  all  subjects, 
we  need  not  be  particular.  To  quote  the  old  song : 

Could  a  man  be  secure 

That  his  days  would  endure 

As  of  old,  for  a  thousand  long  years, 

What  things  might  he  know ! 

What  deeds  might  he  do ! 

And  all  without  hurry  or  care. 

But  we  that  have  but  span-long  lives  must  ever  bear  in  mind 
our  limited  time  for  acquisition.  And  remembering  how  narrowly 
this  time  is  limited,  not  only  by  the  shortness  of  life  but  also  still 
more  by  the  business  of  life,  we  ought  to  be  especially  solicitous 
to  employ  what  time  we  have  to  the  greatest  advantage. 

Relative  values  in  arithmetic.  Variations  illustrated  by 
denominate  numbers.  —  Very  simple  and  obvious  examples 
of  large  differences  in  the  social  values  of  topics,  all  of  which 
have  some  definite  social  value,  are  furnished  by  the  tables 
of  denominate  numbers.  For  example,  for  city  children  the 
following  facts  certainly  have  very  large  social  value  : 

1 2  things  =  i  dozen 
1 2  inches  =  i  foot 
3  feet  =  i  yard 

Less  valuable,  however,  is  the  following  fact,  which  is  used 
not  in  daily  measures  but  frequently  by  literary  writers  as  a 
rough  statement  of  amount : 

20  things  =  i  score 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  103 

Still  less  valuable  for  ordinary  city  children  are  the  following 
measures,  which  have  large  social  value,  however,  in  certain 
social  situations  where  they  are  actually  used : 

6  feet  =  i  fathom 
6086.7  feet  =  I  knot 
1 6  cubic  feet  =  i  cord  foot 
8  cord  feet  =  i  cord 

Automatic  skill  with  fundamental  operations  socially  very 
useful.  —  Similarly,  in  social  life  the  ordinary  operations  in 
addition,  subtraction,  multiplication,  and  division  of  whole 
numbers  and  decimals  have  very  much  larger  value  than 
many  of  the  special  measures  that  are  used  to  furnish  con- 
crete problems  in  school.  There  are  always  educators, 
however,  who  tend  to  decry  the  acquisition  of  skill  in 
"  abstract "  number  manipulation  ;  skill  in  rapid,  correct, 
automatic  adding,  subtracting,  multiplying,  and  dividing. 
A  study  of  social  life  quickly  reveals  the  error  of  this  point 
of  view,  since  such  skill  is  a  useful  tool  in  many  social 
operations,  industrial,  commercial,  scientific,  etc.  As  a  result 
of  the  large  and  clearly  recognized  relative  value  of  skill  in 
such  automatic  operations,  schools  in  recent  years  have  given 
much  attention  to  improved  methods  of  drill  in  arithmetic. 
Increased  time  is  usually  not  necessary,  however,  as 
improved  methods  of  specific  drill  quickly  achieve  the  auto- 
matic skill  in  the  fundamental  operations  which  is  desirable. 

The  most  valuable  topics  determined  by  listing  problems 
of  ordinary  citizens. —  In  an  effort  to  determine  precisely 
what  phases  of  arithmetic  have  the  largest  value  for  ordinary 
citizens,  Professor  G.  M.  Wilson  secured  reports  of  the 
arithmetical  problems  which  actually  occurred  in  the  lives  of 
such  citizens  in  Iowa,  including  architects,  auctioneers, 
bankers,  blacksmiths,  bookkeepers,  carpenters,  contractors, 
farmers,  housekeepers,  laboring  men,  mechanics,  merchants, 
printers,  stock  dealers,  traveling  men,  etc.  (7(6):  128-142.) 


104       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

After  analyzing  and   classifying  the  5036  problems  which 
were  reported,  the  following  facts  appeared  : 

3128  problems  involved  buying  (in  many  cases  by  housekeepers) 
644  problems  involved  selling  by  the  person  reporting  the  problem 
251  problems  involved  keeping  accounts 
217  problems  involved  percentage 

79  problems  involved  "  practical  measurement" 

56  problems  involved  cubic  measure 

41  problems  involved  discount 

27  problems  involved  square  measure 

26  problems  involved  cancellation 

Other  social  processes  which  ordinarily  appear  in  arith- 
metic texts  occur  in  smaller  amount.  It  is  obvious  that 
buying  and  selling  furnish  most  of  the  problems  of  these 
citizens  and  that  keeping  accounts  and  percentage  furnish 
many  more  problems  than  do  certain  other  activities.  Most 
of  the  problems  involved  only  one  arithmetical  process,  and 
most  of  the  numbers,  figures,  or  quantities  used  contained 
less  than  four  places.  (7(6)  :  137) 

Spelling  lists  determined  by  scientific  investigations  of 
relative  values.  —  The  above  effort  to  determine  the  relative 
values  of  arithmetic  problems  by  a  precise,  quantitative 
study  of  the  number  of  times  each  type  of  problem  occurs 
in  the  lives  of  ordinary  citizens  approximates  a  scientific 
method  of  determining  relative  values.  Similar  investiga- 
tions which  have  been  made  concerning  the  relative  needs 
of  teaching  different  words  in  spelling  have  been  carried  so 
far  that  spelling  books  are  now  on  the  market  which  con- 
tain only  the  4000  words  which  most  children  are  likely 
to  use  in  their  writing  in  school  or  after  graduation.  They 
omit  the  6000  or  more  words  which  have  appeared  in  the 
ordinary  spelling  books  for  children,  and  which  very  seldom 
occur  in  the  ordinary  writing  of  children  or  adults.  Such 
a  practical  application  of  the  method  of  selecting  subject 
matter  on  the  basis  of  carefully  determined  relative  values 
effects  enormous  social  economy  in  schools  by  avoiding 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  105 

the  teaching  of  facts  which  are  socially  of  relatively  little 
value.  So  important  are  such  investigations  that  we  shall 
describe  two  of  them,  one  a  study  of  the  theme-writing 
vocabularies  of  children  and  the  other  a  study  of  the 
letter-writing  vocabularies  of  adults. 

Children's  writing  vocabularies ;  about  4500  different 
words.  —  In  1914  Professor  W.  F.  Jones  published  the  re- 
sults of  a  "  Concrete  Investigation  of  the  Material  of  English 
Spelling,"  based  on  the  writing  vocabularies  of  1050  elemen- 
tary school  pupils  in  Illinois,  Maryland,  Iowa,  and  South 
Dakota.  (10.)  From  56  to  105  written  themes  were  secured 
from  each  of  these  pupils  on  such  topics  as  the  following : 
in  the  second  grade,  "The  Playhouse  I  should  Like";  in 
the  fifth  grade,  "What  I  did  Last  Saturday";  in  the  seventh 
and  eighth  grades,  "The  Study  I  Like  Best"  and  "How 
I  came  to  Tell  a  Lie."  The  writing  of  the  themes  extended 
over  a  long  period,  but  in  most  cases  by  the  time  a  child 
had  handed  in  his  fourteenth  theme  "  the  flow  of  new  words 
had  almost  ceased."  New  words  were  then  sought  by  vary- 
ing the  themes  so  as  to  reach  into  new  and  varied  fields  of 
experience,  until  each  pupil's  "word-well"  had  been  pumped 
dry.  In  all  the  75,000  themes,  averaging  190  words  per 
theme,  only  453 2  different  words  were  used. 

Discovered  the  spelling  demons  of  the  English  language.  — 
When  the  misspelled  words  were  counted,  "  one  hundred 
spelling  demons  of  the  English  language  "  were  discovered. 
The  four  arch-demons  are  shown  in  the  following  table : 

"which,"  misspelled  321  times 

"  there  "  1 

,t  ,    .  „    >  misspelled  612  times  when  counted  together 

"  separate,"  misspelled  238  times 

From  the  complete  list  of  spelling  demons  it  appears  that 
the  words  which  gave  the  greatest  difficulty  in  spelling 
throughout  the  grades  are  used  by  children  in  the  second 
and  third  grades. 


106        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Relative  values  shown  by  relative  frequencies  and  relative 
difficulties.  —  Thus  Professor  Jones's  study  provides  two 
bases  for  determining  relative  values  in  teaching  spelling : 
first,  the  relative  frequencies  of  the  words  in  children's 
writing  vocabularies  ;  second,  the  relative  difficulties  of  these 
words  as  shown  by  the  frequencies  of  misspellings  through- 
out the  grades. 

Writing  vocabularies  of  adults ;  IOOO  most  common 
words.  —  The  second  type  of  precise  investigation  of  spell- 
ing vocabularies  was  an  effort  to  determine  relative  values 
in  the  teaching  of  spelling  by  tabulating  the  words  used  in 
letters  written  by  adults.  Two  important  investigations  of 
this  type  were  made  independently  about  1913.  One  was 
made  by  Dr.  Leonard  Ayres  of  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation, 
and  the  other  by  Professors  W.  A.  Cook  and  M.  V.  O'Shea. 

Ayres  tabulated  words  from  2000  short  letters  written 
by  2000  different  people,  and  found  that  2OOI  different 
words  were  used.  (8) 

Cook  and  O'Shea  tabulated  words  from  the  extensive 
family  correspondence  of  thirteen  adults,  and  found  that 
52OO  zvords  were  used.  (9) 

By  combining  the  results  of  these  two  investigations  with 
results  from  other  sources,  Ayres  selected  a  list  of  the  1000 
most  commonly  used  English  words. 

A  series  of  spelling  books  base  don  above  investigations.  — 
Finally,  the  results  of  all  this  scientific  investigation  of 
everyday  spelling  vocabularies  were  incorporated  by  certain 
authors  in  a  series  of  spelling  books  which  were  published 
in  1917.  These  books  contain  only  3448  different  words  to 
be  taught  from  the  first  through  the  eighth  grade.  Other 
spelling  books  based  on  these  scientific  investigations  have 
since  appeared.  The  existence  of  these  books  makes  it 
possible  for  every  teacher  to  concentrate  her  emphasis  in 
teaching  spelling  upon  words  that  are  used  frequently,  and 
to  omit  the  useless  wasteful  teaching  of  words  that  are 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  107 

seldom  used  in  ordinary  writing.  Thus  we  have  a  very  prac- 
tical outcome  from  certain  very  simple  but  precise  scientific 
studies  of  relative  values. 

Relative  values  in  other  subjects.  —  If  space  permitted 
we  could  extend  the  discussion  of  relative  values  (deter- 
mined scientifically  or  by  opinion  from  an  examination  of 
social  needs)  to  geography,  history,  kindergarten  activities, 
and  other  subjects.  This  task  may  be  left  to  be  under- 
taken by  students  in  class  in  connection  with  such  questions 
as  the  following : 

If  ioo  minutes  are  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  how  many  should  be  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  Hudson  ? 
the  Connecticut  ?  the  Muskingum  ? 

If  ioo  minutes  are  devoted  to  the  period  between  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  and  Washington's  inauguration,  how'  much  time 
should  be  devoted  to  Monroe's  administration  ? 

Valuable  aid  in  answering  such  questions  may  be  secured 
from  references  5  and  7  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

III.    CHARACTERISTICS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  PROCEDURE  IN 

SELECTING    SUBJECT    MATTER 

Scientific  procedure  contrasted  with  personal  opinions.  — 
The  investigations  of  spelling  vocabularies  which  we  have 
described  may  be  used  to  show  what  we  mean  by  scientific 
procedure  and  scientific  conclusions  as  distinguished  from 
mere  opinions.  This  distinction  was  noted  earlier  in  speaking 
of  the  opinions  of  Spencer  and  Dewey  on  pages  100-101. 

Illustrated  by  spelling  investigations.  Scientific  investiga- 
tions are  mathematically  precise. — To  the  ordinary  reader, 
one  of  the  most  striking  facts  about  the  spelling  investiga- 
tions is  the  use  of  exact  mathematical  statements ;  thus 
Jones  had  themes  from  1050  pupils  who  used  4532  different 
words,  the  arch-demon  "which"  being  misspelled  321  times ; 
while  Ayres  from  2000  letters  tabulated  2001  different 


108        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

words.  This  fact  furnishes  the  first  characteristic  of  scien- 
tific method  which  we  shall  note ;  namely,  it  is  mathemati- 
cally precise.  Scientific  progress  in  education  requires  the 
use  of  precise  mathematical  statements  just  the  same  as 
does  similar  progress  in  physics  or  chemistry.  In  contrast, 
the  opinions  of  Spencer  and  Dewey  about  education  lack 
this  mathematical  precision. 

Science  uses  objective  data  that  anyone  can  examine.  — 
A  second  feature  of  the  spelling  investigations  is  that  they 
used  materials  or  data  that  anyone  could  examine ;  Jones 
had  the  children's  themes  in  hand,  Ayres,  Cook,  and  O'Shea 
had  the  adults'  letters.  From  these  sources,  perfectly  tan- 
gible material  was  tabulated  ;  namely,  the  words  used.  Such 
tangible  material  is  described  as  objective  in  contrast  with 
mere  impressions,  feelings,  ideas,  or  opinions  which  exist 
only  in  the  mind  of  some  thinker  and  are  not  open  to  gen- 
eral observation  and  manipulation.  The  purely  mental  mate- 
rials are  called  subjective.  A  sunburnt  person's  statement 
that  he  feels  hot  and  feverish  would  be  called  subjective,  in 
contrast  with  the  objective  reading  of  the  clinical  thermom- 
eter which  might  show  that  his  temperature  is  normal. 
Hence  we  have  the  subjective  character  of  opinion  contrasted 
with  the  objective  character  of  scientific  evidence. 

Thus  two  characteristics  of  scientific  procedure  have  been 
noted  ;  it  is  mathematically  precise  and  it  is  objective. 

Scientific  investigations  can  be  verified  because  completely 
described.  —  The  next  feature  disclosed  by  the  scientific 
spelling  investigations  is  that  they  can  be  repeated  exactly 
by  any  competent  person  in  order  to  determine  if  errors 
were  made.  For  example,  themes  could  be  secured  exactly 
as  Jones  secured  his  and  his  tabulations  paralleled  at  every 
stage  ;  letters  could  be  secured  as  Ayres  did  his  and  similar 
tabulations  made.  In  order  that  such  repetition  may  occur 
it  is  necessary  that  each  step  taken  in  the  investigation  be 
fully  described.  Persons  who  merely  give  opinions,  seldom 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  109 

take  the  trouble  to  give  such  thorough  accounts  of  the 
sources  from  which  their  opinions  are  derived.  On  the  other 
hand,  scientific  investigations  can  be  verified  at  every  stage 
by  any  person  competent  to  understand  the  description  and 
duplicate  the  work. 

Science  employs  experts  trained  in  special  methods  of 
research.  —  The  last  sentence  suggests  a  fourth  characteristic 
of  scientific  study ;  namely,  training  in  certain  special  methods 
of  investigation.  Among  the  spelling  investigators,  Ayres 
furnishes  the  best  example.  He  has  had  years  of  training  in 
scientific  study,  is  employed  as  a  research  expert  by  the 
Russell  Sage  Foundation  of  New  York  City,  and  has  made 
a  notable  success  in  organizing  scientific  school  surveys  on 
a  large  scale;  for  example,  in  Cleveland,  in  1915,  he  had 
under  his  direction  a  staff  of  some  twenty-five  investigators, 
including  some  of  the  greatest  experts  in  the  country.  His 
work  illustrates  the  fact  that  scientific  studies  must  be  made 
by  experts  who  are  masters  of  the  technique  needed  to  deter- 
mine the  truth  in  the  particular  field  under  investigation. 

Thus  we  have  described  four  features  of  modern  scien- 
tific procedure:  it  is  (i)  mathematically  precise,  (2)  objec- 
tive, (3)  subject  to  verification  by  any  competent  observer, 
(4)  used  by  experts. 

Scientific  investigators  are  impartial ;  they  are  not  biased 
for  or  against.  —  The  fifth  and  final  feature  of  scientific  pro- 
cedure is  its  impartiality.  In  the  spelling  investigations, 
neither  Jones  nor  Ayres  allowed  himself  to  be  biased  by  his 
desire  to  prove  that  any  particular  word  was  more  frequently 
used  or  misspelled  than  some  other  particular  word.  The 
desire  of  each  investigator  was  to  find  out,  to  discover,  what 
were  the  facts ;  they  tried  to  be  impartial  in  their  work. 
Neither  man  had  any  particular  reason  for  being  otherwise ; 
for  example,  neither  had  previously  published  a  spelling 
book  which  contained  many  or  few  words  and  for  which 
he  wanted  to  secure  larger  sales. 


1 10       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Summary  of  characteristics  of  scientific  investigations.  — 
From  the  preceding  paragraphs  we  may  conclude  that  scientific 
investigations  can  be  described  as  follows  : 

1 .  Mathematically  precise. 

2.  Objective. 

3.  Subject  to  verification  by  any  competent  observer. 

4.  Made  by  experts. 

5.  Impartial. 

Contrast  of  science  and  opinion  summarized  by  Thorndike. 

-The  contrast  between  the  methods  of  science  and  the 

methods  of  opinion  may  be  summarized  in  the  above  terms 

by  quoting  the  following  statements  from  Thorndike,  from 

which  these  terms  were  derived. 

Mathematical  precision.  —  Science  seeks  precise  quantitative 
measures  of  facts  by  which  changes  and  correspondence  may 
be  properly  weighed ;  opinion  is  content  to  guess  at  amounts  of 
difference  and  likeness,  to  talk  in  the  vague  terms  of  "  more " 
or  "  less,"  "  much  "  and  "  little,"  to  rate  a  method  as  better  or 
worse  without  taking  the  pains  to  find  out  just  how  much  better 
or  worse  it  is. 

Objectivity.  —  Science  pays  no  heed  to  anything  but  the  facts 
which  it  has  already  made  sure  of;  it  puts  nothing  in  the  scales 
but  objective  evidence.  Opinion  trusts  its  personal  impressions. 

Verifiability.  —  Science  reveals  the  sources  of  its  evidence  and 
the  course  of  its  arguments,  so  that  any  properly  equipped  thinker 
can  verify  for  himself  the  facts  asserted  to  be  true.  Opinion  offers 
itself  to  be  accepted  or  rejected,  but  not  to  be  verified. 

Expertness.  —  Science  is  the  work  of  minds  specialized  to  search 
after  truth.  .  .  .  Opinion  is  the  occasional  thought  of  those  who, 
though  important  and  capable  people,  are  yet  only  amateurs  in  the 
work  of  getting  truth  [in  the  field  in  which  their  opinions  may 
be  offered]. 

Impartiality.  —  Science  knows  or  should  know  no  favorites, 
and  cares  for  nothing  in  its  conclusions  but  their  truth.  Opinion  is 
often  misled  by  the  "  unconscious  logic  of  its  hopes  and  fears,"  by 
prepossession  for  or  against  this  or  that  book  or  method  or 
result.  (6:  265) 


SELECTING  SUBJECT  MATTER  in 

Utilize  scientific  conclusions  in  education  when  available. 
—  As  indicated  on  page  100  in  discussing  Spencer  and 
Dewey,  at  the  present  time  scientific  facts  are  lacking  to 
decide  many  educational  problems.  Even  such  a  simple 
matter  as  the  spelling  vocabulary  was  not  scientifically  can- 
vassed until  about  1913.  In  the  absence  of  scientific  conclu- 
sions it  is  necessary  to  rely  on  the  opinions  of  such  notable 
students  as  Spencer,  Dewey,  and  others.  In  the  chapters 
that  follow,  however,  we  shall  utilize  wherever  possible  the 
results  of  mathematically  precise,  objective,  impartial  investi- 
gations, meager  as  these  results  still  are  in  the  field  of 
methods  of  teaching. 

Conclusion  of  discussion  of  social  and  relative  values  of 
subject  matter.  —  This  will  conclude  our  discussion  of  the 
selection  of  subject  matter.  Working  from  the  social  point 
of  view,  we  described  social  changes  in  American  life  which 
have  necessitated  radical  changes  in  the  teaching  of  oral 
and  silent  reading,  arithmetic,  religious-moral  and  civic-moral 
instruction  and  kindergarten  activities.  Following  precise, 
objective,  scientific  studies  we  described  the  enormous  varia- 
tion in  the  relative  value  of  topics  in  arithmetic  and  different 
words  in  spelling  lists  and  then  utilized  the  spelling  investi- 
gations to  illustrate  the  general  nature  of  scientific  procedure 
in  selecting  subject  matter. 

Having  determined  the  principles  which  govern  the  selec- 
tion of  subject  matter  for  schools,  we  shall  turn  in  the  next 
chapter  to  a  discussion  of  the  organisation  of  the  selected 
subject  matter. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  references  marked  with  an  asterisk  are  especially  recommended 
to  beginners. 

General.  —  i .  BOBBITT,  J.  F.  *(a)  What  the  Schools  Teach  and  Might 
Teach.  (Russell  Sage  Foundation,  New  York  City,  1915.)  Practical 
application  of  the  social  point  of  view  to  a  survey  of  the  subject 
matter  of  Cleveland  schools.  Simple,  practical,  illuminating.  (£)  The 


112        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Curriculum.   (Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1918.)   The  most  scientific 
treatment  of  what  to  teach.    Social  point  of  view. 

*  2.  DEWEY,  JOHN.    The  School  and  Society.   (The  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1899;  enlarged,  1915.)     Chap,  i  has  been  very  influen- 
tial.  The  title,  even,  has  become  a  byword.    Simple  but  rather  theoretical 
compared  to  the  Bobbitt  references  listed  above. 

*  3.  SPENCER,  HERBERT.  Education.  (1860.)  Chap,  i,  entitled  What 
Knowledge  is  Most  Worth.     A  classic  statement  of  the  sociologist's 
point  of  view. 

Historical.  —  *  4.  PARKER,  S.  C.  History  of  Modern  Elementary 
Education.  (Ginn  and  Company,  1912.)  Chap,  iv,  on  religious  content 
of  colonial  elementary  schools ;  chap,  xviii,  on  the  history  of  the 
kindergarten. 

Scientific.  —  5.  BOBBITT,  J.  F.  Summary  of  the  Literature  in  Scien- 
tific Method  in  the  Field  of  Curriculum-Making.  Elementary  School 
Journal,  November,  1917,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  219-229. 

6.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.  Principles  of  Teaching.  (A.  G.  Seiler,  1906.) 
Pp.  265-268.    Characterizes  science  versus  opinion. 

7.  Minimum  Essentials  in   Elementary-School   Subjects,    (a)  Four- 
teenth Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education, 
Part  I,  and  (b)  Sixteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study 
of  Education,  Part  I.   (c)  Seventeenth  Yearbook,  Part  I.   (Public  School 
Publishing  Co.,  Bloomington,  Illinois,  1915,  1917,  1918.)    Reports  of 
concrete  efforts  to  determine  relative  values  in  all  elementary-school 
subjects.    Very  helpful. 

Spelling  vocabularies.  —  8.  AYRES,  L.  P.  The  Spelling  Vocabularies 
of  Personal  and  Business  Letters.  (The  Russell  Sage  Foundation, 
New  York  City,  1913.)  Tabulated  2001  different  words  from  2000 
short  letters. 

9.  COOK,  W.  A.,  and  O'SHEA,  M.  V.   The  Child  and  his  Spelling. 
(The  Bobbs-Merrill  Co.,  1914.)    Pp.  135-225.    Describes  tabulation  of 
words  used  in  extensive  family  correspondence. 

10.  JONES,  W.  F.    Concrete  Investigation  of  the  Material  of  Eng- 
lish Spelling.   (University  of  South  Dakota,  Vermilion,  South  Dakota, 
1914,  price  ten  cents.)  Tabulated  4532  different  words  from  75,000 
themes  by  elementary  pupils. 

Quoted  incidentally.  —  1 1.  MCMASTER,  J.  B.  Benjamin  Franklin  as 
a  Man  of  Letters.  (Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1887.) 


CHAPTER  V 

ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER 
INTENSIVE  STUDY  ;  PSYCHOLOGICAL  ORGANIZATION 

Main  points  of  the  chapter.  —  i.  Above  the  first  grade,  textbooks 
determine  the  organization  of  subject  matter  for  most  teachers. 

2.  Hence  textbooks  (as  well  as  other  materials  of  teaching) 
should  be  organized  according  to  sound  principles. 

3.  The  yfo/ of  these  principles  to  be  discussed  is  that  subject 
matter  should  be  organized  around  certain  large  meaningful  topics 
instead  of  consisting  of  isolated  encyclopedic  details. 

a.  Hence,  the  old-fashioned  crazy-quilt  geography  is  being  re- 
placed by  studies  of  important  regions,  industries,  and  geographical 
influences. 

b.  In  history  teaching,  emphasis  is  being  transferred  to  the 
vivid  comprehension  of  large  issues. 

c.  In  the  kindergarten,  a  superficial  encyclopedia  of  trades  is 
being  replaced  by  a  few  large  projects,  such  as  a  playhouse,  a 
grocery  store. 

d.  Such    largo    topics   give    generalized    knowledge   which   is 
widely  useful. 

e.  Many  related  details  are  necessary  to  give  vivid  comprehen- 
sion of  large  topics. 

f.  The  details  may  be  forgotten,  but  the  general  impressions, 
ideas,  and  methods  of  work  should  be  retained  permanently. 

4.  The  second  principle  is  that  subject  matter  should  be  organ- 
ized as  pupils  learn  it  best,  not  merely  as  determined  from  the 
subject  itself. 

a.  Hence  the  chronological  order  in  history  is  abandoned  in 
the  primary  and  middle  grades  in  favor  of  a  psychological  order 
of  topics  beginning  with  familiar  local  events  and  vivid  historical 
situations. 

"3 


114       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

b.  Such  psychological  organization  of  subject  matter  was  pro- 
posed by  Rousseau,  who  advocated  studying  childhood  to  determine 
the  correct  order  of  topics. 

c.  Instead  of  doing  this,  an  alphabet  of  the  elements  of  each 
subject  was  organized  by  Pestalozzi,  who  established  the  common 
ABC  methods  in  reading,  writing,  drawing,  and  gymnastics. 

d.  Similarly,  an  ABC  of  geometrical  forms  was  devised  by 
Froebel  for  kindergarten  children. 

e.  These  ABC  methods  were  based  on  the  idea  that  children 
learn  best  by  being  fed  the  elements  of  subjects  which  have  been 
dug  out  by  the  teachers  and  arranged  from  the  simple  to  complex. 

f.  Modern  psychology,  however,  shows  that  children  learn  best 
through  their  own  efforts  in  analyzing  complex  meaningful  objects 
or  situations. 

g.  Hence,  reading  and  writing  begin  with  words  or  phrases  or 
sentences,  not  letters  and  lines ;  drawing  begins  with  representing 
ideas ;  and  the  kindergarten  begins  with  projects  instead  of  geo- 
metrical elements. 

Relation  to  preceding  discussion.  —  In  the  preceding  chap- 
ter we  considered  the  selection  of  subject  matter  from  the 
social  point  of  view  and  in  the  light  of  scientific  methods 
of  determining  relative  values.  We  shall  now  consider  cer- 
tain fundamental  facts  and  principles  which  govern  the 
organization  of  the  selected  material.  The  first  point  to 
notice  in  this  connection  is  the  large  influence  exerted  by 
textbooks  in  determining  both  the  selection  and  organization 
of  subject  matter  in  the  case  of  many  teachers. 

Often  textbooks  determine  organization  above  first  grade. 
—  In  the  course  of  our  discussion  of  selecting  subject  matter 
we  described  the  efforts  which  had  been  made  to  determine 
the  content  of  arithmetic  and  spelling  by  precise,  objective, 
scientific  studies  of  social  needs  and  relative  values.  In 
the  case  of  spelling,  we  noted  that  this  scientific  effort 
had  culminated  in  the  production  of  spelling  books  which 
effected  an  enormous  social  economy  by  presenting  only  the 
words  which  are  in  common  use.  This  type  of  achievement 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  115 

is  desirable  in  all  subjects,  namely,  scientific  determination 
of  the  subject  matter  which  is  socially  most  valuable  and  its 
effective  organization  into  textbooks.  This  last  step  is  espe- 
cially important  because  most  of  the  elementary  teaching  in 
America  is  textbook  teaching.  Such  teaching  varies  from 
mere  memory  recitations  upon  the  textbook  to  the  most 
elaborate  supplementing  of  the  text.  In  the  latter  case  the 
textbook  often  serves  merely  as  an  outline  or  summary  for 
long  discussions  to  which  the  teacher  and  pupils  bring  sup- 
plementary material  from  many  sources.  Usually  except  in 
kindergartens  and  first  grades,  young  teachers  are  especially 
dependent  upon  textbooks,  and  this  fact  determines  very 
largely  their  selection,  organization,  and  use  of  subject  matter. 

Consequently  textbooks  should  be  carefully  selected,  —  In 
view  of  these  facts,  it  is  important  that  teachers  be  guided 
in  their  choice  of  textbooks  by  sound  principles  of  selecting 
and  organizing  subject  matter.  This  is  especially  important 
in  the  middle  grades,  where  textbooks  and  supplementary 
books  are  used  in  larger  and  larger  quantities  as  the  im- 
proved methods  of  teaching  reading  result  in  children  being 
able  to  do  quite  rapid  silent  reading  by  the  end  of  the  fourth 
grade.  In  the  kindergarten,  since  the  children  cannot  read, 
the  teachers  cannot  rely  on  textbooks,  nor  can  they  in  the 
first  and  second  grades  for  much  of  the  work  in  community 
life  and  nature  study.  In  such  cases,  however,  the  same 
principles  apply  in  the  organization  of  subject  matter  as  in 
the  case  of  textbooks. 

Two  principles :  intensive  study ;  psychological  organi- 
zation. —  In  this  chapter  we  shall  discuss  two  of  the  most 
important  principles  of  organizing  subject  matter;  namely, 

I.  The  intensive  study  of  carefully  selected  large  topics,  instead 
of  the  superficial  encyclopedic  study  of  many  topics. 

II.  The  organization  of  a  subject  psychologically,  as  children 
learn  it  most  effectively,  instead  of  organizing  it  merely  in  terms 
of  the  subject  itself. 


Ii6       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

I.    INTENSIVE  STUDY  OF  LARGE  TOPICS  VERSUS 
ENCYCLOPEDIC  TENDENCIES 

In  geography.  Older  geography  teaching  like  a  "  crazy 
quilt."  —  The  contrast  between  the  superficial  encyclopedic 
study  of  many  topics  and  the  organization  of  the  study 
around  a  few  large  central  topics  or  projects  is  most  strik- 
ingly illustrated  in  the  teaching  of  geography,  in  which  the 
encyclopedic  tendency  often  prevails.  If  you  have  ever  seen 
an  old-fashioned  "  crazy  quilt,"  you  have  a  good  object  in 
mind  with  which  to  compare  the  older  methods  of  teaching 
geography  and  the  mental  impression  of  geographical  facts 
which  remained  from  such  teaching.  These  "  crazy  quilts  " 
were  made  by  sewing  together  hundreds  of  little  patches  of 
cloth,  little  odds  and  ends  of  all  colors.  The  similarity  be- 
tween these  strange  arrays  of  patches  and  the  ordinary 
geographies  was  described  by  the  great  founder  of  modern 
geography,  Karl  Ritter,  about  1820,  as  follows: 

[From  the  three  traditional  divisions,  namely,  mathematical, 
physical,  and  political,]  our  ordinary  textbooks  compile  their  usual 
aggregate  of  facts,  and  each  becomes  after  its  own  pattern  a 
motley  in  miniature.  ...  A  systematic  exposition  of  geography 
is  seldom  to  be  found  in  them.  .  .  .  They  are  at  the  foundation 
only  arbitrary  and  unmethodical  collections  of  all  facts  which  are 
ascertained  to  exist  throughout  the  earth.  .  .  .  The  facts  are 
arranged  as  the  pieces  of  a  [crazy  quilt],  as  if  every  one  existed 
in  itself  and  for  itself  and  had  no  connection  with  others.  .  .  . 
The  beginning  is  usually  made  with  boundaries,  which  are  generally 
most  unstable  and  uncertain,  instead  of  being  made  with  some 
rudimental  fact  around  which  all  others  arrange  themselves  as  a 
center.  .  .  .  These  geographical  treatises  .  .  .  form  a  mere  aggre- 
gation and  index  of  rich  materials,  a  lexicon  rather  than  a  true 
textbook.  And  therefore  ensues,  despite  the  undenied  interest  of 
the  subject  and  its  high  claims,  the  mechanical  and  unfruitful 
method  only  too  common  —  the  crowding  of  the  memory  without 
judgment,  without  thought.  (3  :  342) 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  117 

Hodgepodge  of  detailed  information  from  older  geog- 
raphy. —  Doubtless  the  reader  can  easily  call  to  mind 
illustrations  of  such  geography  teaching  from  his  own  expe- 
rience. For  example,  in  studying  North  America  the 
.dominant  practice  was  to  locate  the  capes,  bays,  and  rivers, 
to  bound  all  the  states,  to  locate  the  capital  and  principal 
city  of  each  state,  to  name  the  products  of  each,  etc.  In 
my  own  case  I  remember  very  vividly  the  awful  confusion 
in  my  mind  between  the  products  of  neighboring  states 
when  these  were  studied  in  the  elementary  school.  For 
each  state  there  was  a  paragraph  containing  the  list  of 
products.  This  had  to  be  learned  in  each  case  and  recited. 
No  effort  was  made  to  emphasize  the  general  characteristics 
of  the  region  in  which  these  states  were  located  or  the 
fact  that  they  were  merely  convenient  political  divisions 
marked  off  in  a  region  that  was  often  largely  uniform  in 
its  fundamental  characteristics  and  products. 

The  outcome  of  such  teaching  was  a  general  hodgepodge 
of  more  or  less  useful  information  with  no  comprehension 
of  general  geographic  principles  or  large  fundamental  facts 
which  would  aid  the  pupil  in  further  geographic  study  or 
in  comprehending  the  world  at  large. 

Contrast  modern  fourth-grade  teaching  of  North  America.— 
In  contrast  with  the  old-fashioned,  crazy-quilt,  hodgepodge 
type  of  geographic  teaching,  we  may  notice  how  North  America 
is  taught  in  a  progressive  fourth  grade  to-day,  as  set  forth, 
in  the  following  quotation  from  the  course  of  study  of  the 
Elementary  School  of  The  University  of  Chicago. 

Pictures  of  great  regions.  —  The  study  of  North  America  is 
introduced  by  a  succession  of  pictures  of  significant  regions. 
These  pictures  are  grouped  to  show  scenes  typical  of  the  various 
parts  of  the  country.  The  children  see,  for  example,  the  rocky 
New  England  coast  and  the  fishing  fleet,  some  typical  parts  of  the 
Appalachian  Highland,  the  farms  of  the  rolling  prairie,  cattle 
grazing  on  the  plains,  the  high  peaks  of  the  Rockies,  something 


118        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

of  the  life  in  the  mining  camps,  the  desert  of  the  Great  Basin,  the 
big  trees  of  the  Sierras,  the  orange  groves  of  California  and  the 
cotton  fields  of  the  South.  The  presentation  of  this  material  covers 
several  days.  As  the  pictures  are  shown,  the  children  locate  the 
regions  upon  the  globe  and  upon  the  large  relief  model  of 
North  America.  Many  of  the  pictures  are  projected  upon  the 
screen.  The  children  are  encouraged  to  discuss  them  freely,  to  ask 
questions,  to  tell  "  what  that  man  is  doing,"  to  say  "  I  have  been 
there,"  and  so  on.  They  are  encouraged  to  tell  what  place  they 
would  most  like  to  visit  and  why,  and  to  describe  some  of  these 
places  in  writing  and  in  sketches.  They  discuss  both  orally  and  in 
writing  such  points  as  "  the  differences  the  "pictures  showed 
between  the  eastern  and  the  western  mountains."  In  these 
studies  the  children  are  led  to  notice  especially  the  changes  in 
climate  as  evidenced  by  the  vegetation. 

Realize  variety  of  places  and  industries.  —  At  the  close  of  this 
period  of  work  the  question  is  asked  informally,  "  What  have  all 
of  these  pictures  meant  to  you  ? "  Among  the  replies,  these  are 
found :  "I  never  knew  the  people  were  doing  so  many  different 
kinds  of  work  in  North  America,"  "  I  never  knew  North  America 
was  so  big."  In  gathering  up  all  the  new  ideas  the  children  have 
gained  of  North  America  one  large  question  is  formulated  in  which 
the  rest  of  the  study  centers,  —  "  Why  has  North  America  so  many 
kinds  of  places  and  so  many  kinds  of  workers  ? " 

Causes.  —  The  first  answer  is,  "Because  of  its  great  size  and 
its  different  kinds  of  climate."  From  the  globe  the  children  discuss 
the  time  consumed  in  journeys  across  the  continent.  They  see  that 
the  continent  stretches  almost  from  the  north  pole  to  the  equator. 

In  the  search  for  another  reason  the  children  gather  about  the 
large  relief  map  of  North  America  which  is  placed  upon  the  floor. 
They  notice  the  eastern  and  western  highlands  bounding  the  great 
trough  or  central  valley.  The  two  highlands  are  compared  as  to 
trend,  length,  width,  height,  and  general  character.  The  children 
note  the  parallel  ridges  of  the  Appalachians.  They  see  that  the 
Rocky  Mountains  are  separated  from  the  Sierras  by  the  Great 
Basin.  They  trace  the  Cascade  and  the  Coast  Ranges.  In  doing 
this  they  are  led  to  see  that  the  topography  is  another  force  in 
determining  the  variety  of  places  and  kinds  of  work. 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  119 

Having  found  two  reasons,  the  children  search  for  another. 
They  recall  regions  of  forests,  of  grassy  plains,  and  of  deserts,  and 
discover  that  there  are  variations  in  rainfall.  They  find  out  from 
maps  and  pictures  where  there  is  little  precipitation,  where  there 
is  a  great  deal,  and  where  there  is  a  moderate  amount. 

Study  influence  of  regions  on  industries.  —  The  question  now 
naturally  arises,  "What  are  all  these  places  good  for?"  and  the 
children  begin  to  locate  the  important  industries  upon  the  con- 
tinent. Farming  receives  first  attention.  They  know  that  some, 
of  the  best  farm  lands  are  in  river  valleys.  Several  of  the  great 
rivers  of  North  America  are  studied  to  find  which  basins  offer 
the  best  opportunities  for  farming.  The  following  questions  are 
considered  : 

1.  What   part   is   the    main    stream    and  what   are   its   most 
important  tributaries  ? 

2.  Where  do  these  streams  rise  and  into  what  does  the  main 
stream  empty  ? 

3.  What   is   the   climate   of   the    region    through   which   this 
stream  flows  ? 

4.  Does  the  climate  vary  in  the  different  parts  of  the  basin,  and 
if  so,  how  does  this  affect  farming  ? 

Some  of  the  rivers  studied  in  this  way  are  the  Mississippi, 
Missouri,  St.  Lawrence,  Columbia,  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin, 
Colorado,  Mackenzie,  and  Yukon.  The  pupils  find  what  in  a  large 
way  are  the  most  important  crops  of  different  parts  of  the  conti- 
nent. This  establishes  the  idea  of  the  wheat,  corn,  and  cotton 
lands.  The  other  important  industries  are  indicated  on  the  large 
relief  map  as  their  location  is  learned.  The  detailed  study  of  these 
industries  is  postponed  until  the  second  semester.  (7  :  16) 

Such  improved  teaching  possible  by  young  well-trained 
teachers.  —  To  one  who  knows  only  the  old-fashioned  ency- 
clopedic geography  teaching,  the  above  account  probably 
sounds  far-fetched  and  impossible  of  realization  in  an  ordi- 
nary fourth  grade.  Yet  an  examination  of  the  most  recent 
geography  textbooks  reveals  the  same  type  of  materials  and 
organization.  Any  intelligent  normal-school  graduate  who 
has  been  given  two  years  of  good  specialized  training  for 


120       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS       . 

teaching  in  the  middle  grades  could  carry  out  effectively  in 
a  well-equipped  school,  using  the  best  modern  texts,  such  a 
method  of  teaching  North  America  as  that  described  above. 
Large  significant  topics  in  which  this  teaching  centers. 
—  For  our  present  purposes  we  are  interested  in  the  way 
this  teaching  centers  in  certain  large  significant  topics.  In 
reviewing  the  description  we  notice  the  following  examples 
of  such  large  topics  : 

1 .  Great  natural  regions,  such  as  great  mountain  systems, 
great  plains,  great  river  basins,  tropical  regions,  temperate 
regions,  frigid  regions,  etc. 

2.  Great  industries,  such  as  fishing,  farming,  lumbering, 
mining,  or,  in  more  detail,  wheat  raising,  cotton  growing, 
coal  mining. 

3.  Great  geographical  influences,  such  as  the   influence 
of  climate  on  agriculture,  the  influence  of  topography  on 
climate,  the  influence  of  river  basins  on  agriculture. 

Large  topics  give  generalised  knowledge,  'widely  useful. 
-The  type  of  knowledge  which  the  children  acquire  from 
these  great  topics  differs  in  two  fundamental  respects  from 
the  hodgepodge  of  details  acquired  in  the  old-fashioned 
geographies.  (I)  The  large  topics  give  first  such  an  under- 
standing of  North  America  that  the  child  would  know  the 
opportunities,  possibilities,  and  needs  in  living  in  each  region 
if  he  had  occasion  to  travel  there  or  read  further  about  it. 
(2)  The  large  topics  give  in  the  second  place  such  a  general 
understanding  of  industries  and  of  geographical  regions 
and  influences  that  he  can  comprehend  easily  these  funda- 
mental facts  wherever  he  encounters  them  in  school  in  the 
study  of  any  continent,  or  in  after  life  in  any  part  of  the 
world.  For  example,  after  a  child  has  been  through  a 
modern  elementary  course  in  geography  he  would  be  able  to 
understand  readily  the  fundamental  geographical  influences 
and  social  possibilities  in  some  region  of  current  interest, 
such  as  Russia  or  Mesopotamia,  or  comprehend  easily  such 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  121 

an  important  international  fact  as  the  value  to  Germany  of 
the  Berlin-to-Bagdad  railroad. 

Varied  activities  in  intensive  study  of  a  topic. —  In 
the  study  of  each  large  topic  it  is  approached  from  many 
points  of  view.  For  example,  in  studying  lumbering  the 
following  activities  are  carried  on  :  (I)  discussions  of  values 
of  forests  ;  (2)  maps  of  national  forests  examined  ;  (3)  let- 
ters written  to  National  Bureau  of  Forestry  for  maps  and 
booklets,  the  best  letters  chosen  to  be  sent  by  a  committee  ; 

(4)  enemies  of  the  forests,  such  as  forest  fires,  studied ; 

(5)  great  forest    regions    colored    with    crayon    on    outline 
maps  ;  (6)  specimens  of  wood  collected  and  characteristics 
noted  ;  (7)  magazine  articles  and  pictures  brought  by  chil- 
dren ;  (8)  logging  and  lumber  camps  of  the  North  contrasted 
with  those  of  the  South  through  pictures  ;  (9)  important  ship- 
ping centers  for  lumber  indicated  on  wall  map  and  marked 
on  individual  outline  maps;  (10)  "Lumber  Books"  made 
with  cover  designs  and  illustrations  drawn,  such  as  A  Log- 
ging Camp   in   the    North,    A    Flume;    (n)   compositions 
written  on   "  The  National  Forests  "  etc. 

In  project  teaching  pupils  plan  these  activities. —  When 
the  pupils  are  given  considerable  part  in  planning  such 
practical  activities  as  are  described  above,  we  have  what 
may  be  called  project  teaching.  Such  planning  frequently 
involves  considerable  investigation  and  discussion  by  the 
pupils  and  the  devising  of  ways  and  means  of  solving 
the  practical  problems  which  the  various  activities  present. 
Effective  direction  by  the  teacher  of  such  problematic 
activities  by  the  pupils  frequently  calls  for  very  wide  knowl- 
edge on  her  part  and  for  great  resourcefulness  in  meeting 
various  issues  and  needs  as  they  arise.  For  this  reason  a 
teacher  who  undertakes  project  teaching  should  have  a  very 
thorough  understanding  of  the  possibilities  and  intricacies 
of  each  project  that  she  expects  the  pupils  to  undertake  and 
of  the  elements  of  skill  in  such  teaching.  (See  Chapter  XII.) 


122        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

History  illustrates  change  to  vivid  comprehension  of  large 
issues.  —  The  teaching  of  history  illustrates  the  same  change 
from  encyclopedic,  unrelated  detail  to  the  thorough  study  of 
a  few  large  central  issues.  Thus  Columbus  and  the  Euro- 
pean situation  which  sent  him  forth  may  be  treated  thor- 
oughly, while  many  of  the  minor  explorers  are  omitted  ; 


EQUIPMENT   FOR    KINDERGARTEN    PROJECTS 

From  The  University  of  Chicago  Elementary  School.    Notice  the  large  screen  play- 
house in  the  left  background.     It  can  be  easily  moved  to  any  part  of  the  room. 
Compare  the  picture  on  the  opposite  page 


certain  important  problems  in  American  history,  such  as  the 
slavery  problem,  may  be  traced  from  beginning  to  end,  but 
separate  study  of  many  of  the  presidential  administrations 
omitted.  The  study  of  Roman  history  in  the  fourth  grade 
presents  one  of  the  most  striking  examples.  If  ever  there 
was  an  encyclopedic  hodgepodge,  it  existed  in  much  of 
the  teaching  of  Roman  history  in  American  high  schools. 
Obviously  such  a  study  could  not  be  carried  on  with  fourth- 
grade  children.  Instead,  a  few  typical  scenes  and  events 
are  selected  and  made  real  to  the  children.  For  example, 
many  days  may  be  spent  on  "  Horatius  at  the  Bridge," 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  123 

until  the  children  live  in  imagination  the  Roman  scenes 
and  perhaps  dramatize  them.  Similarly,  many  days  may 
be  spent  on  Caesar  and  his  exploits,  to  get  a  vivid  impres- 
sion of  another  important  period  in  Roman  life.  See  the 
frontispiece  and  the  pictures  on  pages  8,  132,  134,  136, 
138,  230,  and  232,  for  illustrations  of  historical  projects. 


EQUIPMENT  FOR   KINDERGARTEN   PROJECT 

From  the  Bradwell  Public  School,  Chicago.  Screen  playhouse  set  for  Christinas  Eve. 

Notice  the  fireplace  and  stockings.    This  screen  is  of  less  expensive  construction 

than  the  one  shown  on  the  opposite  page.    See  discussion  on  page  126 


Supplementary  books  provide  material  for  intensive  study. 

—  It  often  happens  that  the  fundamental  texts  in  both  geog- 
raphy and  history  lack  sufficient  detail  to  give  reality  to  the 
large  significant  topics  that  the  teacher  desires  to  empha- 
size. Fortunately  a  wealth  of  supplementary  reading  mate- 
rial is  now  available  in  the  form  of  geographical  readers, 
industrial  geographies,  stories  of  Ab  and  Jiji  and  other 
pseudo-historical  children,  stories  of  the  Greeks,  Romans, 
vikings,  and  other  peoples,  biographies  of  great  men  of  all 
nations,  etc.  In  many  school  systems  such  supplementary 
books  are  provided  from  the  superintendent's  office  or  public 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  125 

libraries  in  large  quantities.  In  all  cases  teachers  should 
secure  from  the  large  textbook  companies  catalogues  of 
their  supplementary  books  and  should  examine  their  ex- 
hibits at  teachers'  institutes  or  wherever  they  are  found, 
in  order  to  become  familiar  with  the  most  suitable  books 
for  the  intensive  study  of  each  large  topic. 

A  few  kindergarten  projects  replace  encyclopedia  of 
trades.  —  As  a  final  example  of  the  change  in  organizing 
subject  matter  from  the  encyclopedic  tendency  to  the  use 
of  large  central  topics  or  projects,  we  may  note  the  change 
which  is  taking  place  in  the  kindergarten  subject  matter. 
In  endeavoring  to  carry  out  Froebel's  idea  that  the  kinder- 
garten should  introduce  children  to  community  life,  the  old- 
fashioned  kindergarten  included  in  its  program  a  list  of  all 
the  trades  practiced  in  the  community,  such  as  the  wood- 
chopper,  the  carpenter,  the  charcoal  burner,  the  coal  dealer, 
the  blacksmith,  the  baker,  the  shoemaker,  the  postman,  the 
fireman,  etc.  These  were  taken  up  in  order,  each  for  a  few 
days,  and  as  a  consequence  children  finished  the  year  with 
a  confused  jumble  of  ideas  derived  from  a  hurried  Cook's 
tour  through  human  industries.  After  observing  such  a 

Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page.  —  The  construction  of 
a  community  project  is  represented  in  this  kindergarten  picture ; 
namely,  a  street  with  its  various  dwellings  and  other  features. 
Notice  the  children  working  singly  and  in  pairs.  Into  their  co- 
operative work  has  entered  a  variety  of  problems ;  for  example, 
making  the  paper  bases  to  support  the  street  lamps  and  the  trees, 
the  symmetrical  arrangement  of  the  street  lamps,  the  locating  of 
the  trees,  etc.  Incidentally,  the  picture  shows  an  attractive  kinder- 
garten room,  with  lockers  and  a  bench  around  the  wall,  the  top  of 
the  lockers  forming  a  shelf  for  the  plants,  etc.  On  the  wall  are 
large  pictures  especially  suited  to  kindergarten  children ;  pictures 
in  bright  colors,  with  prominent  figures ;  pictures  that  tell  a  story, 
such  as  Little  Red  Riding  Hood  with  her  basket  meeting  the  wolf 
in  the  woods. 


126       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

program  in  operation  in  a  typical  conservative  kindergarten, 
Miss  Alice  Temple  wrote  as  follows : 

[While]  there  is  no  criticism  to  be  made  of  the  selection  of 
some  of  these  forms  of  industrial  or  civic  occupation,  [there]  are 
objections  ...  to  using  them  in  the  manner  described.  There  is 
an  attempt  to  cover  too  much  ground.  The  children  are  intro- 
duced in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  to  too  large  a  number  of 
objects,  processes,  and  ideas.  The  treatment  is,  in  consequence, 
very  superficial.  .  .  .  There  is  not  time  for  the  children  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  material.  (5  :  28) 

In  place  of  such  an  encyclopedia  of  trades,  modern  pro- 
gressive kindergartens  organize  their  activitives  around  a  few 
large  projects,  such  as  a  large  playhouse,  a  grocery  store,  or 
a  dry-goods  store.  In  speaking  of  these  Miss  Temple  says  : 

The  accompanying  photographs  illustrate  the  objective  expres- 
sion of  group  projects  which  have  proved  most  valuable  as  a  means 
of  holding  interest  and  organizing  activity  for  relatively  long  periods 
of  time  ;  say,  five  or  six  weeks. 

Playhouse.  —  The  playhouse  (shown  in  the  pictures  on  pages 
1 6,  122,  and  123),"  as  the  center  of  housekeeping  plays,  supplies 
motive  for  building  necessary  furniture,  for  making  bedding,  table 
furnishings,  kitchen  utensils,  and  window  curtains.  The  objects  to 
be  made  are  so  familiar  that  the  children  have  definite  ideas  to  start 
with,  and,  given  some  suggestion  and  suitable  material,  they  are 
able  to  work  with  relative  independence.  The  intense  interest  in 
the  project  stimulates  the  children  to  put  forth  their  best  efforts 
in  planning  and  in  making  the  necessary  objects.  The  variety  of 
things  needed  calls  for  the  use  of  a  variety  of  materials,  and  the 
objects  made  must  stand  the  test  of  use  in  play.  The  children 
are  thus  enabled  to  judge  their  own  products. 

The  grocery  store.  —  The  building  and  equipping  of  a  grocery 
store  like  that  shown  on  page  127  is  a  project  still  richer  in  pos- 
sibilities. It  necessitates  excursions  to  the  store  to  learn  how  and 
with  what  it  is  stocked.  It  calls  for  a  quantity  and  variety  of  pro- 
visions. It  suggests  dramatic  plays  of  buying  and  selling,  and  its 
relation  to  the  home  (represented  by  the  playhouse)  is  expressed 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  127 

through  these  plays.  Wagons  and  baskets  need  to  be  constructed 
to  deliver  the  groceries  satisfactorily,  and  the  buyers  need  pocket- 
books  and  money  to  pay  for  them. 

Community  buildings.  —  The  groups  of  community  buildings 
represented  on  pages  124  and  129  are  the  objective  expression  of 
community  needs  and  relationships.  They  show  many  houses,  a 
school,  a  church,  some  stores  and  shops,  the  street,  street  lights, 
automobiles,  etc.  (5  :  36-37) 


KINDERGARTEN  PROJECT  — GROCERY  STORE 

Constructed  from  light  fruit  boxes  covered  with  paper.    From  the  Myra  Bradwell 
School,  Chicago.   Similar  stores  are  often  constructed  of  large  building  blocks 

Real  relations  of  social  activities  appear  in  large  kinder- 
garten projects.  —  It  is  clear  frpm  these  descriptions  that 
Froebel's  fundamental  idea  of  familiarizing  children  through 
play  with  home  and  community  activities  is  not  neglected  by 
this  project  method  of  organizing  kindergarten  activities.  On 
the  contrary,  the  descriptions  show  that  these  projects  provide 
the  most  vivid  kind  of  active  experiences  with  typical  social 
activities  in  very  real  and  natural  relations  to  each  other. 

Values  of  study  of  large  topics  summarized.  —  Thus 
by  examples  from  geography,  history,  and  kindergarten 
activities  we  have  illustrated  the  tendency  to  discard  the 


128       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

encyclopedic  organization  of  subject  matter  and  to  substitute 
the  organization  around  a  few  large  topics,  each  of  which 
is  a  significant  unit  in  which  the  pupils  center  a  great 
variety  of  activities  for  several  days  or  weeks.  In  each  case 
the  value  of  this  type  of  organization  was  commented  on. 
These  values  may  now  be  summarized  as  follows  : 
Such  intensive  study  of  large  significant  topics  results  in 

1 .  Vivid  impressions  by  the  pupils  of  important  topics ; 
for  example,  of  old  Roman  life,  of  lumbering,  of  irrigation. 

2 .  Better  understanding  oi  important  relations ;  for  example, 
between  stores  and  homes,  or  natural  resources  and  industries. 

3.  Training   in  gathering  and  organising  material  for 
large  enterprises ;  for  example,  for  a  store  or  a  play. 

4.  Training  in  using  general  ideas  in  interpreting  new 
situations ;  for  example,  in  studying  a  new  country  in  geography. 

5.  A  permanent  memory  of  useful  general  impressions, 
ideas,   and  methods  of  work  which  may  be  used  by  the 
pupils  in  after  life. 

The  memory  element  mentioned  in  paragraph  number  5 
was  not  discussed  in  connection  with  the  examples.  Hence 
we  shall  consider  it  further  at  this  point. 

Intensive  method  focalizes  large  significant  issues  to 
be  remembered. —  It  is  commonly  said  that  nine  tenths  of 
what  we  learn  in  school  is  forgotten.  This  is  probably  true. 
Therefore  it  is  especially  important  that  some  method  be 
adopted  that  will  assure  that  the  one  tenth  that  is  remem- 
bered is  worth  remembering.  As  long  as  encyclopedic, 
unrelated,  unorganized  details  are  taught,  the  part  that  will 
be  remembered  depends  largely  on  chance.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  large  fundamental  issues  are  emphasized,  and  the 
details  so  selected  as  to  bring  these  large  issues  to  a  clear 
focus,  we  may  feel  reasonably  sure  that  these  will  be  the 
parts  that  will  be  remembered. 

Many  details  necessary  to  make  general  issue  real. — 
There  may  be  as  many  details  in  the  intensive  method  as 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  129 

in  the  encyclopedic  method,  but  their  character  and  purpose 
is  different.  For  example,  when  fourth-grade  children  spend 
their  history  periods  for  two  or  three  weeks  on  "  Horatius  at 
the  Bridge,"  scores  of  details  of  Roman  life  are  brought  out. 
But  these  details  all  fit  into  the  general  picture  that  is  being 
created  in  their  minds  of  Rome  in  "  the  brave  days  of  old," 
when  "  Romans  were  like  brothers,"  when  "  none  was  for  a 


KINDERGARTEN  PROJECT  —  COMMUNITY   BUILDINGS 

From  the  Kay  Public  School,  Chicago.    Compare  the  picture  on  page  124.    See 
discussion  on  page  127 

party,"  but  "  all  were  for  the  state."  Similarly,  a  few  weeks 
later,  when  many  hours  are  spent  in  studying  Caesar,  the 
details  serve  to  give  a  vivid  lasting  impression  of  Roman 
life  in  Caesar's  day  and  of  the  personality  and  achievements 
of  one  of  the  greatest  figures  in  history. 

Details  used  in  intensive  study  to  support  the  general 
meaning,  —  Thus  we  see  that  the  details  used  in  the  inten- 
sive study  of  large  topics  are  carefully  selected  and  arranged 
for  the  purpose  of  contributing  to  the  better  understanding 
of  these  general  topics.  The  details  may  be  spoken  of  as 
supporting  the  general  principle,  fact,  or  impression.  Thus 


130       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

they  make  the  matter  under  consideration  meaningful  —  they 
fill  it  with  meaning.  In  the  encyclopedic  treatment  of  many 
topics,  on  the  other  hand,  we  find  thousands  of  details  that 
are  more  or  less  isolated  in  character.  They  do  not  con- 
tribute to  form  a  general  impression  or  general  idea,  but 
often  seem  to  be  all  on  the  same  dead  level  of  insignificance. 

Details  to  be  forgotten  ;  general  meaning  remembered.  — 
In  the  intensive  study  of  large  topics,  while  the  details  are 
necessary  to  build  up  the  general  impression  or  meaning, 
they  do  not  constitute  this  meaning.  For  example,  the  de- 
tails of  dress,  of  action,  of  enunciation,  etc.  used  in  drama- 
tizing the  Horatius  incident  help  at  the  time  to  give  the 
impressions  of  Roman  plebeians  and  patricians  united  in  the 
defense  of  Rome.  But  this  general  idea  does  not  consist  of 
these  details.  Long  after  these  are  forgotten  the  general 
idea  may  persist  and  be  used  in  thinking  about  other  plebeian 
and  patrician  situations,  such  as  the  Bolsheviki  fighting 
against  the  bourgeoisie  of  Russia  in  1917  instead  of  uniting 
with  them  against  the  common  enemy.  Once  the  details  have 
served  their  purpose  of  building  up  a  vivid  general  impres- 
sion or  meaning  they  may  be  forgotten,  and  many  probably 
should  be  forgotten  for  purposes  of  mental  economy.  The 
general  meanings  or  ideas  or  impressions  should  remain  per- 
manently, however,  for  use  in  later  experiences.  They  con- 
stitute the  important  permanent  products  resulting  from  the 
organization  of  subject  matter  in  terms  of  large  topics  or  proj- 
ects, which  is  the  first  principle  of  organizing  subject  matter 
to  be  discussed  in  this  chapter. 

Limitations  of  intensive  method.  —  The  intensive  method 
of  organizing  subject  matter  has  been  illustrated  in  the 
above  discussion  with  examples  from  geography,  history,  and 
kindergarten  activities.  Examples  could  also  be  given  from 
the  teaching  of  English,  nature  study,  and  manual  training. 
In  these  subjects  much  of  the  material  (though  not  all)  may 
be  easily  arranged  under  large  topic  headings.  In  some 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  131 

subjects,  however,  notably  in  spelling,  handwriting,  music, 
formal  drill  in  arithmetic,  and  in  the  reading  of  short  stories, 
the  intensive  type  of  organization  has  little  place.  In  these 
subjects,  the  second  principle  of  organizing  subject  matter 
which  we  shall  consider  plays  a  larger  part  in  determining 
the  organization ;  namely,  the  principle  that  subject  matter 
should  be  organized  in  terms  of  the  pupils'  interests  and 
capacities  for  learning. 

II.  ORGANIZATION  IN  TERMS  OF  THE  LEARNER   INSTEAD 
OF  IN  TERMS  OF  THE  SUBJECT 

In  history.  —  One  of  the  simplest  and  clearest  examples 
of  the  organization  of  subject  matter  as  children  learn  it  best, 
instead  of  organizing  it  in  terms  of  the  subject,  is  found  in 
the  teaching  of  history. 

Chronological  organization.  Subject  seems  to  demand  it. 
—  A  historian  almost  always  organizes  his  material  in 
chronological  order.  The  relationships  between  historical 
events,  the  ways  in  which  certain  events  grow  out  of  others, 
seem  to  dictate  the  chronological  procedure.  For  example, 
the  American  Revolution  grew  out  of  the  inheritance  from 
England  of  certain  principles  concerning  liberty,  and  the 
violation  of  these  principles  by  the  English  home  govern- 
ment. Consequently,  in  order  to  present  the  Revolution 
properly  it  would  seem  to  be  necessary  to  describe  antecedent 
English  and  colonial  conditions.  Thus,  the  order  of  history 
teaching  as  determined  by  the  subject  itself  is  nearly  always 
chronological. 

Little  children  have  no  understanding  of  long  periods  of 
time:  —  When  we  come  to  teach  history,  however,  to  chil- 
dren in  the  primary  and  middle  grades,  the  question  arises 
whether  the  chronological  connections  over  long  periods  of 
time  constitute  the  proper  basis  for  organizing  the  subject 
there.  It  soon  becomes  apparent  that  periods  of  years  mean 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  133 

little  or  nothing  to  children  who  have  lived  only  eight  or  ten 
years.  Practically  the  only  definite  feelings  of  years  that 
such  children  have  are  associated  with  the  idea  that  "  last 
year  "  they  were  in  Miss  Smith's  room,  and  a  more  vague 
notion  that  the  "year  before"  they  were  in  Miss  Brown's 
room  in  school.  Evidently,  with  such  an  uncertain  basis  for 
understanding  periods  of  time  the  chronological  order  does 
not  seem  necessary  or  desirable. 

Social  needs  and  activities  also  uncomprehcndcd.  —  More- 
over, primary  children  lack  not  only  an  understanding  of 
periods  of  time,  but  they  lack  also  the  social  experiences 
necessary  for  an  understanding  of  the  lives  of  people  remote 
in  space  or  time.  Consequently,  before  beginning  to  teach 
them  about  the  lives  of  their  European  and  American  ances- 
tors it  is  necessary  to  give  them  some  understanding  of  the 
fundamental  social  needs  and  activities  of  the  people  of 
to-day.  Hence  a  modern  course  in  primary  history  begins  in 
the  kindergarten  and  first  grade  with  a  study  of  the  social 

Story  of  the  Indian  pictures  on  pages  132,  134,  and  136.  — 

These  pictures  illustrate  the  activities  of  the  first-grade  children 
who  are  studying  Indian  life  as  described  in  the  course  of  study 
quoted  on  page  135.  They  have  been  reading  stories  of  Ji-Shib 
and  Hiawatha  in  their  reading  periods.  For  their  language  work, 
they  constructed  and  presented  a  little  play.  In  the  picture  on 
page  132  they  are  shown  designing  the  costumes  for  the  play.  A 
child  has  written  on  the  blackboard  that  they  went  to  a  neighboring 
museum  to  examine  the  costumes.  Other  suggestions  were  secured 
from  pictures  of  Indians.  The  picture  on  page  134  shows  the 
children  performing  one  scene  of  their  play  in  their  classroom, 
while  the  picture  on  page  136  shows  them  presenting  the  play  to 
the  school  assembly  during  morning  exercises.  These  pictures 
illustrate  not  only  the  study  of  the  social  life  of  the  Indians  as  a 
part  of  the  course  of  study,  but  also  the  utilization  of  the  children's 
interests  in  adventure,  imitative  play,  manipulation,  and  communi- 
cation as  the  basis  of  social  studies  and  of  training  in  expression. 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  135 

situations  with  which  the  children  are  in  direct  contact  in 
order  to  prepare  them  to  understand  historical  social  situations. 
History  course  as  adapted  to  children.  Activities  of  home, 
community,  and  farm  studied  in  kindergarten  and  first 
grade.  —  The  nature  of  the  kindergarten  study  of  social 
activities  was  brought  out  in  the  description  of  the  playhouse 
and  other  projects  given  on  page  126.  For  city  children  the 
first  step  away  from  the  immediate  social  environment  is 
taken  in  the  first  grade  through  a  study  of  farm  life.  In 
addition  to  many  other  devices,  in  The  University  of  Chicago 
Elementary  School,  the  following  methods  are  used  : 

A  miniature  farm  is  set  up  on  the  sand-table.  The  various 
buildings  are  constructed  from  cardboard,  fields  of  grain  are  sown, 
fences  and  trees  made,  toy  animals  provided,  and  the  pictures  made 
as  complete  as  possible.  The  sand-table  is  a  source  of  much  im- 
aginative play,  and  the  children's  initiative  is  encouraged  in  planning 
and  in  acting  out  their  various  farm  experiences  with  the  material 
available.  Here  they  have  an  opportunity  to  retell  the  stories  of 
farm  life  which  have  been  told  them  and  to  invent  new  ones. 

Each  child  also  plans  and  makes  a  Farm  Book.  The  following 
materials  are  used:  (i)  pictures  which  the  children  collect  from 
various  magazines  and  farm  journals ;  (2)  illustrations  which  they 
have  made ;  (3)  paper  cuttings ;  (4)  explanatory  sentences  which 
they  add  whenever  necessary.  All  this  material  is  arranged  by 
the  children  with  the  help  of  the  teacher.  The  Farm  Book  is  thus 
a  constant  help  in  organizing  and  using  their  knowledge  of  the 
subject.  (8 :  406) 

Indian  life  provides  second  step  toward  imagined,  his- 
torical, social  situations  —  After  completing  the  farm  proj- 
ect, the  second  step  in  the  study  of  remote  or  imagined 
social  situations  may  be  taken  in  the  first  grade  by  a  study 
of  Indian  life.  (See  the  pictures  on  pages  132,  134,  136.) 

The  basis  for  the  study  of  Indian  life  is  found  in  Jenks's  "  The 
Childhood  of  Ji-Shib,  the  Ojibwa."  This  story,  in  which  the  life  of 
an  Indian  is  portrayed,  gives  most  of  the  phases  of  Indian  life 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  137 

desirable  for  presentation  to  children.  With  this  story  as  a  basis 
the  teacher  is  able  to  present  the  subject  in  a  concrete  way,  con- 
tributing details  wherever  needed  and  rearranging  parts  to  suit  her 
needs.  On  the  sand-table  or  in  the  individual  sand-pans  the  chil- 
dren reproduce  parts  of  the  story  of  Ji-Shib  and  work  out  new 
adventures  suggested  by  it.  They  make  an  Indian  Book,  in  which 
are  kept  their  drawings  and  paper  cuttings. 

In  addition  to  its  being  a  much-treasured  record,  this  serves  as 
a  means  of  organizing  the  work  and  giving  motive  to  the  repro- 
duction of  parts  of  the  story.  They  carry  out  some  of  the  activities 
of  Indian  life,  such  as  the  threshing  and  grinding  of  grain  and  the 
parching  of  corn.  They  dramatize  many  of  the  Indian  activities : 
hunting,  fishing,  moving,  feasting,  dancing.  They  play  many  of 
the  Indian  games.  (8  :  408) 

Shepherd  life  and  Viking  tales  further  enrich  social  im- 
agination. —  In  the  second  grade  the  study  of  shepherd  life 
introduces  the  children  to  activities  and  customs  that  will 
aid  them  in  understanding  many  peoples,  such  as  the  Arabs 
and  the  dwellers  in  Palestine.  In  the  third  grade  a  strongly 
contrasting  type  of  civilization  is  introduced  by  a  study  of 
Jennie  Hall's  "Viking  Tales,"  supplemented  by  constructive 
activities.  The  sea  life,  adventures,  and  travels  of  the  hardy 
Vikings  are  vividly  presented.  (See  the  picture  on  page  1 38.) 

Local  history  introduces  chronological  development.  —  At 
the  end  of  the  third  grade  or  the  beginning  of  the  fourth, 
local  history  is  studied.  The  growth  of  the  local  settlements 
gives  the  children  concrete  notions  of  actual  chronological 
changes  in  social  conditions,  thus  introducing  them  to  a 
historical  series  of  events  in  a  concrete,  close-to-home 
manner.  For  example,  the  study  of  the  local  history  of 
Chicago  traces  the  growth  of  the  city  from  its  settlement 
as  Fort  Dearborn,  a  trading  and  military  post,  down  to  the 
present  time.  The  textbook  is  Jennie  Hall's  "  Story  of 
Chicago."  The  activities  of  the  class  during  the  study  are 
suggested  by  the  contents  of  the  "  Chicago  Book  "  which 
each  child  makes  and  which  contains  written  descriptions, 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  139 

original  stories,  bits  of  dramatization,  sketches  which  are 
made  in  the  art  period,  and  pictures  which  he  has  collected 
as  illustrations. 

The  following  table  of  contents  is  copied  from  such  a 
book,  together  with  explanatory  notes. 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

1.  Lake  Michigan  (a  picture). 

2.  Before  White  People  Came  (written  description). 

3.  Early    Chicago    (a   map   which    was   first   made   on    the 
sand-table). 

4.  Making  the  Portage  (a  sketch). 

5.  Trading  Posts  (written  composition). 

6.  The  Indian  Council  (mimeographed  record  of  dramatization). 

7.  Fort  Dearborn  (picture). 

8.  Building  Fort  Dearborn  (written  composition). 

9.  Why  People  Thought  Chicago  would  be  a  Big  City  (written 
composition). 

10.  Pack  Horse  (a  sketch). 

11.  How  Pioneers  Travelled  (written  composition). 

12.  Prairie  Schooner  (a  sketch). 

.     13.  How  People  Travel  To-day  (written  composition). 

14.  Pictures  of  Street  Cars,  Trains,  and  Automobiles. 

15.  People  whom  Chicago  Honors  (mimeographed  papers). 

1 6.  Chicago  Harbor  (map). 

17.  The  Pioneer  (verse). 

Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page.  —  The  ships,  weapons, 
homes,  occupations,  dress,  and  pastimes  of  the  Vikings,  as  well  as 
their  adventures  and  explorations,  are  being  studied  by  the  third- 
grade  children  shown  in  this  picture.  In  the  large  sand-pan  the 
children  have  constructed  a  Viking  feast  hall  and  other  buildings 
with  thatched  roofs.  On  the  wall  are  hung  drawings  of  Viking 
boats  made  during  the  art  periods.  Models  of  the  boats  are  made 
and  placed  in  the  harbor  in  the  sand-pan.  The  children  at  their 
desks  are  modeling  the  rugged  physical  features  of  Norway  with 
the  fiords  and  mountains. 


140       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

1 8.  Pioneer  Times  :  the  Country  Store  ;  Lighting;  Heating  and 
Cooking ;  the  Mail ;  the  Water  Supply  (compositions). 

1 9.  The  Tunnel  and  Crib  System  (compositions  and  diagrams). 

20.  Purifying  Water  (written  record  of  experiments). 

21.  Things  which  Helped  to  Make  Chicago  a  Big  City  (written 
composition). 

22.  Beautiful  Chicago  (pictures). 

23.  Plan  of  the  City.    (8  :  426) 

The  knowledge  of  the  growth  of  their  home  city  prepares 
the  children  for  an  understanding  of  the  growth  of  historical 
cities  such  as  Athens  and  Rome. 

Greek  and  Roman  adventures.  —  In  the  fourth  and  fifth 
grades  the  lives  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  furnish  mate- 
rials for  further  enrichment  of  the  pupil's  mental  storehouse 
of  historical  pictures  and  personages,  —  Homeric  adventures, 
thrilling  battles  at  Thermopylae  and  Marathon,  Greek  fleets, 
Greek  buildings,  Alexander's  conquests,  simple  Roman 
beginnings,  Horatius  at  the  bridge,  Caesar,  etc. 

Chronological  connections  begin  to  receive  emphasis.  — 
From  this  point  the  chronological  connections  may  receive 
more  and  more  emphasis,  but  it  should  always  be  kept  in 
mind  that  appreciation  of  long  periods  of  time  is  a  difficult 
achievement  even  for  adults,  to  whom  such  expressions  as 
the  fifteenth  century  and  the  Renaissance  often  carry  little 
meaning.  Even  to  give  a  coherent,  connected,  lasting  im- 
pression of  the  succession  and  relation  of  events  in  a  single 
century  requires  special  art  on  the  part  of  the  teacher. 

From  chronological  to  psychological  organization  in  his- 
tory. —  The  preceding  paragraphs  present  a  contrast  of  the 
chronological  order  of  topics  and  what  we  may  call  the  psy- 
chological order.  Notice  the  word  "  logical "  appears  in 
both  these  terms.  "  Chrono-logical  "  means  time  organization. 
"  Psycho-logical "  means  what  ?  It  means  organization  accord- 
ing to  the  mental  progress  of  the  learner.  It  means  the 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  141 

order  that  is  determined  by  the  way  in  which  the  pupil 
learns  most  readily  and  effectively.  It  means  omission  of 
materials  and  ideas  that  children  cannot  comprehend  at  any 
given  stage  in  their  maturing  or  training,  and  careful  choice 
for  each  stage  of  activities  that  the  children  can  understand 
and  master.  It  means  adaptation  of  subject  matter  to  the 
capacities  and  interests  of  the  pupils. 

History  of  efforts  at  psychological  organization  explains 
present  practices.  —  The  substitution  of  a  psychological  or- 
ganization of  elementary-school  subject  matter  for  forms  of 
organization  determined  merely  by  the  subjects  themselves 
constitutes  a  continuous  trend  of  improvement  in  elemen- 
tary school  teaching  since  1800.  Inasmuch  as  many  persons 
still  adhere  to  the  practice  of  organizing  material  regardless 
of  the  order  best  adapted  to  pupils,  and  since  many  efforts 
to  determine  the  best  psychological  order  have  been  mis- 
taken, we  shall  review  briefly  the  historical  changes  through 
which  the  leaders  in  educational  thinking  have  arrived  at 
the  present  point  of  view.  We  have  found  this  historical 
procedure  helpful  in  earlier  chapters,  especially  in  presenting 
the  social  point  of  view  as  represented  by  two  great  educa- 
tional writers,  Spencer  and  Dewey.  The  social  point  of  view 
and  the  psychological  idea  of  organizing  subject  matter  as 
children  learn  it  best  constitute  the  two  great  features  of 
modern  pedagogy.  In  presenting  the  history  of  the  psycho- 
logical effort  we  shall  introduce  three  other  great  educational 
thinkers.  The  first  of  these  is  Rousseau  (Roo-so'),  the  fire- 
brand of  the  French  Revolution  of  1789,  one  of  the  most 
influential  figures  in  modern  history. 

Rousseau  said  study  childhood  to  determine  organiza- 
tion of  teaching.  —  Among  Rousseau's  notable  writings  was 
an  epoch-making  book  on  education,  published  in  1762,  in 
which  he  described  the  training  of  an  imaginary  boy, 
"fimile"  (A-meeT),  after  whom  the  book  is  named.  In 


142        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

the  preface  of  it  Rousseau  formulated  his  purpose  in  the 
following  words,  which  summarize  the  psychological  point 
of  view  in  teaching : 

We  do  not  know  childhood.  Acting  on  the  false  ideas  we  have 
of  it,  the  farther  we  go  the  farther  we  wander  from  the  right  path. 
Those  who  are  wisest  are  attached  to  what  is  important  for  men 
to  know,  without  considering  what  children  are  able  to  apprehend. 
They  are  always  looking  for  the  man  in  the  child,  without  thinking 
of  what  he  was  before  he  became  a  man.  This  is  the  study  upon 
which  I  am  most  intent.  .  .  .  Begin,  then,  by  studying  your  pupils 
more  thoroughly,  for  it  is  very  certain  that  you  do  not  know  them. 
Now,  if  you  read  this  book  of  mine  with  this  purpose  in  view,  I 
do  not  believe  that  it  will  be  without  profit  to  you.  (3  :  187) 

Rousseau  set  Pestalozzi  on  fire.  —  Hundreds  of  thousands 
of  persons  did  read  Rousseau's  "  Emile,"  for  he  was  a 
wonderful  writer,  a  great  literary  genius.  Many  of  these 
condemned  the  book,  but  many  others  were  inspired  to  a 
remarkable  degree  by  its  powerful  message.  Among  those 
who  were  set  on  fire  was  a  humble  Swiss  university  student 
named  Pestalozzi,  who  said  : 

The  moment  Rousseau's  "  £mile  "  appeared,  my  visionary  and 
highly  speculative  mind  was  enthusiastically  seized  by  the  visionary 
and  highly  speculative  book.  I  compared  the  education  which  I 
enjoyed  in  the  corner  of  my  mother's  parlor,  and  also  in  the  school 
which  I  frequented,  with  that  which  Rousseau  demanded  for  the 
education  of  his  fimile.  The  home  as  well  as  the  public  education 
of  the  whole  world  and  of  all  ranks  of  society  appeared  to  me 
altogether  as  a  crippled  thing,  which  was  to  find  a  universal  remedy 
for  its  present  pitiful  condition  in  Rousseau's' lofty  ideas.  (3  :  274) 

Pedagogical  pilgrims  flocked  to  Pestalozzi  s  schools, 
1800-182$.  — After  many  years  of  toil  and  hardship,  this 
humble  Swiss  student  became  the  greatest  and  most  influ- 
ential practical  educator  of  modern  times,  and  to  his 
experimental  schools,  maintained  in  Switzerland  from  1800 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER 


to  1825,  pedagogical  pilgrims,  statesmen,  and  tourists  flocked 
from  all  over  the  world.  The  serious-minded  went  there  to 
learn  from  Pestalozzi ; 
the  frivolous  and  cu- 
rious went  as  they 
would  flock  to  see  a 
lake  or  a  glacier. 

Pestalozzi  desired 
to  psychologize  teach- 
ing ;  methods  widely 
used.  —  Pestalozzi's 
influence  in  changing 
methods  of  teaching 
in  elementary  schools 
was  as  great  as  his 
fame.  To  him  and 
his  followers  we  owe 
some  of  our  best 
present-day  practices 
in  teaching  arithme- 
tic, geography,  and 
nature  study.  An 
equally  profound  in- 
fluence was  exerted 
upon  the  methods 
of  teaching  reading, 
writing,  drawing,  and 
gymnastics.  In  all 
these  reforms  Pesta- 
lozzi's slogan  was,  "I 
desire  to  psychologize 

teaching."  As  indicated  above,  his  psychologizing  was  very 
helpful  in  some  subjects.  Unfortunately,  he  was  quite  mis- 
taken in  his  efforts  to  psychologize  the  teaching  of  reading, 
writing,  drawing,  and  gymnastics,  and  his  false  methods  in 


ROUSSEAU,     REVOLUTIONARY     LEADER     OF 
MOVEMENT    TO    ORGANIZE    SUBJECT    MAT- 
TER   ACCORDING    TO    PUPIL'S    INTERESTS 
AND   CAPACITIES 


144       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

these  subjects,  as  well  as  some  of  those  developed  in  the  kin- 
dergarten by  his  disciple  Froebel,  have  persisted  in  common 
use  until  recent  years  and  are  still  followed  in  many  places. 
"  From  simple  to  complex "  led  Pestalozzi  astray ; 
alphabet  methods.  —  The  idea  which  led  Pestalozzi  astray 
in  his  methods  of  teaching  was  the  apparently  harmless 
statement  that  teaching  should  "  proceed  from  the  simple 
to  the  complex."  Pestalozzi  interpreted  this  statement  to 
mean  that  in  each  subject  an  alphabet  of  the  elements  of  it 
should  be  organized,  just  as  there  is  an  alphabet  of  letters 
used  in  reading.  Pestalozzi  called  these  alphabets  his 
"A  B  C's."  In  describing  his  earliest  efforts  to  use  them 
with  primary  children  in  school,  he  said  : 

I  once  more  began  crying  my  A  B  C's  from  morning  to 
night.  ...  I  was  indefatigable  in  putting  syllables  together  and 
arranging  them  in  a  graduated  series.  I  did  the  same  for  numbers ; 
I  filled  whole  notebooks  with  them ;  I  sought  by  every  means  to 
simplify  the  elements  of  reading  and  arithmetic,  and  by  grouping 
them  psychologically  [to]  enable  the  child  to  pass  easily  and  surely 
from  the  first  step  to  the  second,  from  the  second  to  the  third,  and 
so  on.  The  pupils  no  longer  drew  letters  on  their  slates,  but  lines, 
curves,  angles,  and  squares.  (3  :  365) 

It  appears  from  this  quotation  that  Pestalozzi 's  notion  of 
psychologizing  the  teaching  of  a  subject  was  to  break  it  into 
its  elements  and  then  to  feed  these  elements  in  regular 
order  to  the  pupils.  Hence,  he  said: 

In  every  branch  of  popular  knowledge  or  talent,  I  set  to  work 
to  organize  a  graduated  series  of  exercises,  the  starting  point  of 
which  was  within  everybody's  comprehension,  and  the  unbroken 
action  of  which,  always  exercising  the  child's  powers  without  ex- 
hausting them,  resulted  in  a  continuous,  easy,  and  attractive 
progress.  (3 :  366) 

Phonic  alphabets  use  din  beginning  reading  and  spelling. — 
In  the  teaching  of  reading  and  spelling  he  made  his  alphabet 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  145 

from  the  elementary  sounds  of  the  language.    Speaking  of 
this  work,  he  said  : 

The  spelling  book  must  contain  the  entire  range  of  sounds  of 
which  the  language  consists,  and  portions  of  it  should  be  repeated 
daily  in  every  family.  .  .  .  No  one  imagines  to  what  a  degree  the 
attention  of  infants  is  aroused  by  the  repetition  of  such  simple 
sounds  as  ba,  ba,  ba,  da,  da,  da,  ma,  ma,  ma,  la,  la,  la.  (3  :  367) 

-'Lines  and  angles  constituted  elements  in  ivriting  and 
drawing. —  In  teaching  handwriting,  he  found  the  elements 
in  "lines,  curves,  angles,"  etc.,  and,  as  suggested  in  the 
quotation  above,  "the  children  no  longer  drew  letters  on 
their  slates,"  but  drew  these  elements  instead.  The  same 
elements  served  as  the  starting  point  for  teaching  drawing. 
These  methods  still  used  in  some  places.  —  The 
reader  will  recognize  in  these  descriptions  the  methods  of 
teaching  reading,  writing,  and  drawing  which  are  still  in 
vogue  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  —  beginning  with 
letters  or  elementary  sounds  in  reading,  and  with  practice 
in  drawing  straight  lines,  curved  lines,  ovals,  angles,  squares, 
etc.  in  handwriting  and  drawing.  The  predominance  of 
such  methods  during  the  nineteenth  century  was  largely  due 
to  the  work  of  Pestalozzi  and  his  followers. 

ARC  of  gymnastics  gave  calisthenic  systems  still  widely 
used.  —  The  systems  of  gymnastic  exercises  in  which  chil- 
dren perform  all  kinds  of  elementary  movements  also 
originated  in  the  Pestalozzian  theory  of  organizing  an 
alphabet  for  each  subject.  To  exercise  the  arms  properly, 
according  to  this  theory,  they  must  be  moved  up  and  down, 
backwards  and  forwards,  in  straight  lines  and  in  circles,  in 
all  possible  ways.  Similarly,  with  the  legs  the  same  process 
should  be  carried  out.  After  all  the  "elementary"  move- 
ments have  been  mastered,  then  more  complex  combinations 
are  practiced,  eventually  resulting  in  complicated  contortions 
involving  simultaneous  use  of  all  parts  of  the  body.  The 


146       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

reader  will  recognize  that  such  calisthenic  systems  are  still 
widely  used  in  the  gymnastic  training  of  children. 

The  A  B  C  of  observation  emphasized  geometrical  names. 
—  One  of  the  most  remarkable  applications  of  the  Pestalozzian 
theory  of  proceeding  from  the  simple  to  the  complex  was 
in  the  teaching  of  geometrical  figures  and  names.  Rousseau 
and  Pestalozzi  had  created  an  enthusiasm  for  the  observation 
of  things,  and  since  squares,  circles,  angles,  triangles,  etc. 
appear  in  doors,  windows,  street  corners,  etc.,  Pestalozzi 
and  his  followers  concluded  that  an  alphabet  of  these  had 
to  be  taught,  so  they  devised  "  A  B  C's  of  observation." 
The  Pestalozzian  object-teaching  books  which  had  great 
vogue  in  England  and  America  about  1860  included  in 
their  material  for  "  infant  and  primary  schools  "  not  only 
the  simpler  geometrical  names  such  as  the  cylinder,  cone, 
sphere,  hemisphere,  etc.,  but  even  such  appalling  names  as 
tetrahedron,  octahedron,  and  rhombic  dodecahedron. 

A  B  C  of  kindergarten  exercises  based  by  Froebel  on 
geometrical  forms  from  simple  to  complex.  —  Pestalozzi 's 
theory  of  proceeding  from  the  simple  to  the  complex  was 
applied  by  his  disciple  Froebel  in  organizing  the  activities 
used  in  play  and  construction  in  the  kindergarten.  Froebel 
spent  .two  years  as  a  teacher  or  observer  in  Pestalozzi's 
school  and  said,  "It  soon  became  evident  to  me  that 
'  Pestalozzi '  was  to  be  the  watchword  of  my  life."  After 
many  years  of  vicissitudes,  Froebel  finally  organized  the 
first  kindergarten  in  1837.  At  an  earlier  date  he  had 
emphasized  "  proceeding  from  the  simple  to  the  complex  " 
in  the  organization  of  constructive  activities,  and  later,  in 
speaking  of  the  use  of  games  in  the  kindergarten,  he  said, 
"  They  should  be  organized  in  '  logical  sequence.1  "  These 
ideas,  combined  with  the  general  enthusiasm  for  geometrical 
names  described  above  and  Froebel's  experience  with  geo- 
metrically formed  crystals  while  working  as  a  mineralogist, 
resulted  in  a  most  peculiar  series  of  play  devices  for  educating 


7 


V  , 


\ 


\ 


\ 


OLD-FASHIONED       SIMPLE-TO-COMPLEX       KINDERGARTEN 
CONSTRUCTIONS 

''  Forms  of  beauty  "  made  with  Froebelian  blocks.    Note  the  contrast  between  this 

picture  and  the  socially  meaningful  activities  of  progressive  kindergartens  pictured 

on  pages  123-129  and  154 


148        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

children.  Throughout  these  devices  the  geometrical  idea 
stands  out.  Instead  of  choosing  dolls  and  doll  clothes  and 
toy  furniture  and  other  socially  meaningful  objects  found  in 
children's  imitative  play,  he  chose  a  ball  because  it  was  a 
sphere,  blocks  because  they  were  cylinders  and  cubes,  little 
sticks  because  they  could  be  laid  into  geometrical  forms 
such  as  triangles,  squares,  rectangles,  etc.  The  use  of  these 
objects  in  constructing  geometrical  "  forms  of  beauty "  is 
shown  in  the  picture  on  page  147.  It  is  evident  that  you 
proceed  from  the  simple  to  the  complex  as  you  glance  from 
the  upper  part  of  the  picture  to  the  lower  part. 

Teaching  of  formal  subjects  long  dominated  by  Pestalozzts 
nnpsychological  alphabet  methods.  —  The  examples  from 
the  teaching  of  reading,  writing,  drawing,  gymnastics,  and 
the  kindergarten  show  what  an  enormous  influence  has  been 
exerted  in  the  teaching  of  these  formal  subjects  by  the 
principle  of  proceeding  from  the  simple  to  the  complex. 
In  many  places  the  methods  described  are  still  in  vogue.  It 
remains  to  show  that  Pestalozzi  was  badly  mistaken  when 
he  decided  that  the  way  to  psychologize  teaching  was  to 
break  up  each  subject  into  its  smallest  elements  and  then 
feed  these  elements  to  children  in  "  logical  sequence." 

Pestalozzi's  alphabets  based  on  the  subjects,  not  on  child- 
hood. —  It  will  be  remembered  that  we  defined  the  psycho- 
logical organization  of  subject  matter  as  the  order  in  which 
pupils  best  learn  a  subject,  and  that  Rousseau  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  psychological  reforms  by  saying  we  must 
study  childhood  to  understand  how  children  learn  most  readily 
and  effectively.  Now  it  is  quite  obvious  that  while  Pestalozzi 
said  he  would  "psychologize  teaching,"  he  frequently  forgot 
"  childhood  "  in  the  practices  described  above  and  focused 
his  attention  absolutely  on  each  subject  in  itself.  Disre- 
garding children's  experience  and  natural  methods  of  learn- 
ing, he  devised  the  most  unpsychological  schemes  for  having 
them  learn.  This  may  be  explained  by  presenting  a  partial 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  149 

description  of  the  way  a  person  learns  according  to  William 
James,  the  greatest  of  American  psychologists. 

Learning  usually  involves  the  learner's  analyzing  complex 
wholes  himself.  —  According  to  James,  a  person  learns 
ordinarily  by  meeting  complex  situations  and  analyzing  these 
situations  himself,  not  by  being  fed  the  elements  of  these 
situations  by  someone  else  who  has  dug  them  out.  In 
describing  the  frame  of  mind  of  a  child  in  a  very  new  situa- 
tion, James  characterized  it  as  "a  big,  blooming,  buzzing 
confusion."  Examples  of  such  situations  from  adult  life  are 
the  following :  coming  out  of  a  depot  in  a  strange  city ; 
being  plunged  into  the  water  for  one's  first  swimming 
lesson  ;  trying  to  draw  an  unfamiliar  object  if  you  have  little 
skill  in  drawing ;  trying  to  solve  a  difficult  original  exercise 
in  geometry.  The  learner  clears  up  such  a  buzzing  confusion 
by  picking  out  now  this  phase  and  now  that  phase  for 
separate  attention.  For  example,  in  coming  out  of  the  depot 
you  may  look  the  people  over  and  pick  out  a  policeman  to 
question,  or  you  may  look  for  a  street  car,  or  you  may 
watch  where  the  crowd  goes  and  decide  to  follow  it.  As 
you  have  more  and  more  experiences  with  strange  depots 
the  mental  confusion  disappears  ;  you  have  learned  how  to 
behave  in  such  situations ;  you  have  them  clearly  analyzed 
into  checking  rooms,  ticket  offices,  train  bulletin  boards, 
train  announcers,  cab  drivers,  policemen,  street-car  con- 
ductors, street  signs,  etc.,  and  have  developed  appropriate 
methods  of  noticing  these  and  behaving  accordingly. 

Unnecessary  to  dig  out  smallest  elements  in  many  situa- 
tions. —  We  usually  carry  our  analysis  only  as  far  as  is 
necessary  for  practical  purposes.  Hence  we  are  quite  familiar 
with  many  complex  situations  or  objects,  and  know  just  how 
to  behave  toward  them,  although  we  have  never  analyzed 
them  into  their  smallest  elements.  For  example,  we  learn 
to  recognize  and  to  eat  or  avoid  onions ;  we  are  familiar 
with  their  so-called  "  taste  "  and  know  how  to  behave  toward 


150       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

it.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  most  of  the  so-called  taste  is  a 
complex  mixture  of  taste  and  odor.  It  can  be  analyzed  into 
these  two  elements  by  having  a  person  close  his  eyes,  plug 
his  nostrils,  stick  out  his  tongue,  and  close  his  lips.  Then 
place  a  piece  of  onion  or  potato  or  apple  or  turnip  on  his 
tongue  and  have  him  guess  which  it  is.  Obviously,  how- 
ever, this  process  is  unnecessary  in  teaching  a  person  to 
recognize  and  discriminate  onions  from  potatoes,  apples,  and 
turnips  in  daily  life. 

Similarly,  children  learn  to  recognize,  name,  and  use  such 
complex  objects  as  doors,  windows,  chairs,  wagons,  auto- 
mobiles, etc.  without  first  being  taught  that  these  have  acute 
and  obtuse  angles  or  consist  of  circles,  rectangles,  squares, 
cylinders,  or  what  not.  It  is  obvious  that  an  ABC  of 
observation  organized  in  geometrical  terms  is  an  unnecessary 
and  useless  device  in  teaching  observation  in  ordinary  life, 
since  for  most  practical  purposes  the  analysis  of  complex 
objects  and  situations  is  not  carried  down  to  such  geometrical 
elements. 

Subject  matter,  now  psychologically  organized,  begins 
with  wholes.  —  Thus  we  see  that  great  modern  psychol- 
ogists, such  as  William  James,  describe  learning  not  in 
terms  of  proceeding  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  but 
in  terms  of  the  learner's  meeting  more  or  less  complex 
objects  or  situations  and  analyzing  these  as  far  as  may  be 
necessary  for  practical  behavior.  This  account  of  the  learning 
process  is  having  large  influence  in  changing  the  organiza- 
tion of  subject  matter.  For  example,  since  children  can 
easily  recognize  as  wholes  such  statements  as  "  We  have 
two  pets  "  or  "  They  are  white  mice,"  such  short  sentences 
may  be  used  in  beginning  reading,  instead  of  beginning 
with  letters  or  syllables. 

This  process  is  described  in  one  of  the  current  manuals 
of  a  commercialized  reading  system  in  the  following  terms, 
which  clearly  reflect  James's  influence : 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  151 

Wholes  to  Parts,  to  Wholes.  —  The  vague  whole  [namely,  the 
story  of  Little  Bo  Peep  or  of  Jack  Horner]  is  acquired  by  the  chil- 
dren through  listening  to  the  story  told  by  the  teacher,  and  through 
the  exercise  of  their  own  self-activity  in  dramatization.  The  story 
is  first  analyzed  into  thought  groups.  The  thought  groups  are  then 
built  up  synthetically  by  the  teacher,  sentence  by  sentence,  at  the 
blackboard.  Word  groups  and  sight  words  are  taken  from  the  sen- 
tences. Selected  words  are  separated  into  phonograms.  Phono- 
grams are  blended  to  form  words.  The  final  step  is  the  reading  of 
the  whole  story  from  the  book. 

Similarly,  in  handwriting,  the  children  write  whole  words  or 
phrases  before  they  are  drilled  in  making  meaningless 
straight  lines  and  curved  lines.  Perhaps  the  most  striking 
change  is  in  drawing,  in  which  the  child  in  the  primary 
grades  may  draw  such  pictures  as  those  shown  on  page  152 
and  may  never  draw  mere  curved  lines  and  straight  lines  as 
such.  Equally  striking  are  the  changes  in  gymnastics  and 
in  kindergarten  activities.  In  place  of  simple-to-complex 
calisthenics,  children  play  games,  which,  as  large  unanalyzed 
wholes,  give  them  excellent  exercise  and  at  the  same  time 
give  training  in  recreation  and  certain  social  virtues.  As  to  the 
kindergarten,  the  geometrical  playthings  and  forms  of  beauty 
are  being  forgotten,  and  such  large  projects  used  as  were  de- 
scribed above,  on  page  1 26 ;  namely,  playhouses,  grocery 
stores,  dry-goods  stores,  and  other  community  buildings. 

Courage  to  permit  crudeness  of  childhood  replaces  perfect 
models.  —  In  all  of  the  processes  involving  handwork  by 
little  children,  such  as  handwriting,  drawing,  and  construc- 
tion, progressive  teachers  are  willing  to  accept  rather  crude 
products.  This  contrasts  strongly  with  the  desire  for  per- 
fectly clean,  clear-cut,  copper-plate,  model  products  for 
exhibition  purposes  which  commonly  prevails  where  alphabet 
methods  are  followed.  It  is  recognized  that  if  the  pupils 
are  to  do  their  own  analyzing,  selecting,  rejecting,  and 
expressing,  their  products  at  first  will  be  quite  rough  and 


DRAWINC;   AS  STORY-TELLING 


I  Ilustrations  by  second-grade  children  of  an  original  Arab  story  composed  by  them. 
Evidently  something  is  happening  in  this  picture.  What  do  you  suppose  it  is?  See 
page  151.  From  Sargent's  "How  Children  Learn  to  Draw."  (Ginn  and  Company) 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  153 

incomplete  as  compared  with  the  finished  product  of  the 
adult  expert.  But  in  their  willingness  to  accept  such  crude 
products  of  little  children,  teachers  are  carrying  out  Rous- 
seau's program  for  psychologizing  teaching  by  studying 
childhood.  Instead  of  merely  "being  attached  to  what  is 
important  for  men  to  know,"  teachers  now  "  consider  what 
children  are  able  to  apprehend  ";  instead  of  "  always  looking 
for  the  man  in  the  child,"  teachers  now  are  "  thinking  about 
what  he  was  before  he  became  a  man,"  and  organizing 
their  subject  matter  in  terms  of  his  capacities  and  interests 
as  a  child. 

Summary  concerning  psychological  organization.  —  Thus 
we  see  that  the  psychological  method  of  organizing  subject 
matter  is  a  large  factor  in  improving  teaching  to-day.  In 
introducing  the  discussion  of  the  psychological  organization 
we  used  the  subject  of  history  in  order  to  contrast  the  older 
method  of  organizing  subject  matter  merely  in  terms  of  the 
subject,  which  in  the  case  of  history  produces  the  chron- 
ological order.  We  then  presented  Rousseau's  epoch-making 
appeal  to  organize  subject  matter  in  terms  of  childhood,  and 
told  how  far  astray  Pestalozzi  and  Froebel  went  in  their 
efforts  to  carry  out  Rousseau's  ideas.  We  pointed  out  that 
in  organizing  simple-to-complex  alphabets  in  each  subject 
they  were  not  basing  their  organization  on  the  capacities, 
interests,  and  learning  processes  of  children  but  merely  on 
an  analysis  of  each  subject.  The  mistakes  of  these  well- 
intentioned  educators  were  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  com- 
paratively crude  and  amateur  psychologists.  When  we  turned 
to  the  discussions  of  learning  presented  by  William  James, 
the  greatest  American  psychologist,  we  found  him  empha- 
sizing the  fact  that  analysis  of  complex  wholes  by  the  learner 
is  a  large  factor  in  learning  by  children  and  adults.  This 
fact  parallels,  in  a  way,  the  conclusion  which  we  reached  in 
the  first  half  of  this  chapter,  where  the  emphasis  in  organ- 
izing history,  geography,  and  kindergarten  activities  was 


154        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

placed  on  the  organization  around  certain  large  topics  or 
projects.  The  combination  of  the  intensive  method  and  the 
psychological  methods  of  organization  is  resulting  in  the 
centering  of  instruction  in  units  of  subject  matter  that 
correspond  to  real  situations  in  social  life  and  at  the  same 
time  are  full  of  meaning  to  children  and  adapted  to  their 
capacities  for  learning  and  their  interests  at  each  age. 


WASHING  THE  KINDERGARTEN  DOLLS    CLOTHES 

A  meaningful  social  activity  substituted  for  the  comparatively  meaningless,  simplex- 
to-complex,  geometrical  constructions  pictured  on  page  147.   Notice  the  improvised 
tubs,  toy  ironing-board,  and  toy  iron.   From  a  Chicago  public-school  kindergarten 

Transition  to  Part  II  on  learning  processes ;  summary  of 
Part  I  on  fundamental  points  of  view.  —  The  statements 
made  above  concerning  analysis  by  pupils  when  they  are 
learning  give  only  one  inkling  concerning  the  way  children 
learn.  The  complete  story  of  their  methods  of  learning  was 
roughly  outlined  in  Rousseau's  "fimile"  in  1762,  but  has  been 
greatly  elaborated  by  later  writers.  This  story  is  so  long  that 
we  shall  devote  all  of  Part  II  of  this  book  to  relating  it.  Be- 
fore doing  this,  it  is  desirable  to  get  our  bearings  by  review- 
ing briefly  Part  I,  which  has  presented  certain  fundamental 
points  of  view  that  will  guide  us  in  our  later  thinking. 


ORGANIZING  SUBJECT  MATTER  155 

These  fundamental  points  of  view  may  be  summarized 
as  follows  : 

1.  In  our  interdependent   democratic  American  society 
the  aim  of  public  education  is  to  increase  the  sum  total  of 
happiness  for  the  multitudes. 

2.  To  this  end,  the  schools  train  for  health,  enjoyment  of 
leisure,  good  will,  and  social  service  by  developing  in  chil- 
dren  appropriate   information,   habits,   ideals,   and  abiding, 
many-sided  interests. 

3.  The  effective  organization  of  such  training  involves 
reproducing  in  schools  a  prominent  feature  of  our  complex 
social    life ;     namely,    effective    business    management    for 
economy  in  routine  affairs. 

4.  The  selection  of  the  subject  matter  that  is  to  be  used 
to  attain  the  broad  social  aims  of   the  school  should  be 
made  from  the  social  viewpoint.    The  material  should  be 
clearly  adapted  to  real  present-day  needs  and  conditions, 
and  the  relative  values  of  the  topics  should  be  scientifically 
determined. 

5.  Such   scientific   determination   requires   investigations 
that  are  mathematically  precise,  objective,  verifiable,  expert, 
and  impartial. 

6.  Where  such   scientific   investigations  have  not   been 
made  we  must  rely  on  the  opinions  of  great  specialists, 
thinkers  and  writers  such  as  Spencer  and  Dewey,  who  have 
devoted  much  thought  to  education.    These  opinions  are 
not  always  valid. 

7.  Progressive  textbooks  and  teachers  organize  the  selected 
subject  matter  around  large  significant  central  topics,  and 
begin  with  units  that  are  meaningful  to  pupils  and  adapted 
to  their  capacities,  interests,  and  processes  of  learning  at 
each  age. 

8.  The  study  of  these  learning  processes  of  pupils  is  such 
a  complex  and  important  undertaking  that  Part  II  of  the 
text  will  be  devoted  to  it. 


I  $6       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  references  marked  with  an  asterisk  are  especially  recommended 
to  beginners. 

General.  —  *  i .  McMuRRY,  F.  and  C.  The  Method  of  the  Recitation. 
(The  Macmillan  Company,  1903.)  Chaps,  ii  and  xi.  The  organization 
of  large  topics  illustrated  by  sample  lessons.  Very  practical. 

An  intensive  unit.  —  *2.  PARKER,  EDITH  P.  A  Sixth-Grade  English 
Unit.  Elementary  School  Journal,  October,  1914,  Vol.  XV,  pp.  82-90. 
Excellent  practical  example  of  intensive  treatment  of  a  large  topic. 
Complete  description  of  pupils'  work.  Topic,  "  Ships  and  Shipbuilding." 

Historical.  —  *3-  PARKER,  S.  C.  History  of  Modern  Elementary 
Education.  (Ginn  and  Company,  1912.)  Chap,  ix,  on  Rousseau's  epoch- 
making  appeal  to  psychologize  teaching.  Pp.  365-374,  on  Pestalozzi's 
alphabet  methods  organized  from  simple  to  complex. 

Psychological.  —  4.  JAMES,  WILLIAM.  Principles  of  Psychology. 
(Henry  Holt  and  Co.,  1890.)  Vol.  I,  chap,  xiii  and  elsewhere.  The 
source  of  many  of  the  recent  ideas  of  beginning  with  large  meaningful 
topics  instead  of  meaningless  elements.  Too  technical  for  beginners. 

Kindergarten.  — *  5.  TEMPLE,  ALICE.  Survey  of  the  Kindergartens 
of  Richmond,  Indiana.  (The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1917.) 
Emphasizes  large  projects  as  centers  of  kindergarten  activities. 

6.  HILL,  PATTY  S.,  and  others.  Experimental  Studies  in  Kinder- 
garten Education.  Teachers  College  Record,  January,  1914,  Vol.  XV, 
pp.  1-70.  A  collection  of  papers  revealing  the  transition  from  Froebel's 
devices  to  the  use  of  larger  projects.  See  especially  pp.  4,  62-64. 

*6a.  HILL,  PATTY.  The  Kindergarten  and  the  Elementary  School. 
In  Rapeer,  L.  W.,  Teaching  Elementary  School  Subjects  (Charles 
Scribner's  Sons,  1917),  pp.  38-57.  Excellent  statement  of  organization 
of  progressive  kindergarten  programs  in  terms  of  children's  instincts. 

Geography.  —  *  7.  Course  of  Study  in  Geography  in  The  University 
of  Chicago  Elementary  School.  Elementary  School  Journal,  1917, 
Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  11-30,  115-132,  186-205,  268-279. 

7  a.  ATWOOD,  W.  W.,  and  THOMAS,  H.  G.  Teaching  the  New 
Geography.  (Ginn  and  Company,  1921.)  A  helpful  practical  manual. 

History.  —  *  8.  Course  in  Community  Life,  History  and  Civics  in  The 
University  of  Chicago  Elementary  School.  Elementary  School  Journal, 
1917,  Vol.  XVII,  pp.  397-431,  485-520,  550-575,  627-649.  This  course 
was  prepared  by  the  teachers  in  the  University  Elementary  School  and 
is  notable  for  its  detailed  descriptions  of  methods  and  devices. 

9.  TRYON,  R.  M.  Teaching  History  in  Junior  and  Senior  High 
Schools.  (Ginn  and  Company,  1920.)  Suggestions  for  upper  grades. 


PART   II.    LEARNING    PROCESSES; 
GENERAL  ASPECTS 

CHAPTER  VI 

HOW  CHILDREN  LEARN ;  BY  THEIR 
OWN  RESPONSES 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  SELF-ACTIVITY 

Main  points  of  the  chapter.  —  i.  This  chapter  continues  the 
story  of  how  children  learn,  which  was  begun  at  the  end  of  the 
preceding  chapter. 

2.  The  term  "  learning "  is  used  here  in  the  broadest  sense, 
to  denote  any  change   brought  about  in  a  pupil's  methods   of 
thinking,  feeling,  and  behaving. 

3.  This    chapter    emphasizes   the   fact   that   the   child   learns 
through  his  own  mental  responses,  reactions,  or  behavior.    This 
is  the  doctrine  of  self-activity. 

4.  The  teacher  serves  merely  to  stimulate  the  pupil's  activity; 
hence  we  may  distinguish  teacher  activity  and  pupil  activity. 

5.  Pupil  self-activity  is  often  more  influenced  by  other  pupils 
than  by  the  teacher. 

6.  Slow,    dull   teachers    and    rapid-fire   nervous   teachers   are 
opposite  extremes  in  the  types  of  pupil  self-activity  which  they 
arouse. 

7.  In  complicated  kinds  of  learning,  a  pupil's  self-activity  de- 
mands  time    and  opportunity   for   mental   experimentation    and 
self-correction. 

8.  In  such  cases  the  artistic  teacher  shows  great  skill  in  infer- 
ring the  internal  mental   responses  of  the  pupil  and  giving  the 
proper  cues  to  modify  them. 


158        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Relation  to  Part  I.  —  In  Part  I  of  the  book  we  developed 
certain  fundamental  points  of  view  concerning  the  aims, 
management,  and  subject  matter  of  elementary  schools. 
These  were  summarized  on  page  155  as  a  transition  to 
Part  II.  The  last  points  in  the  summary  emphasized  the 
fact  that  the  organization  of  subject  matter  is  now  being 
determined  by  the  interests,  capacities,  and  learning  processes 
of  the  pupils.  This  is  known  as  the  psychological  method 
of  organization.  Following  the  program  proposed  by  Rous- 
seau, it  centers  its  attention  upon  the  study  of  childhood ; 
it  studies  the  processes  by  which  children  learn  most  eco- 
nomically and  effectively  in  order  to  determine  how  they 
should  be  taught.  Since  this  psychological  program  is  quite 
long,  we  shall  devote  a  number  of  chapters,  constituting 
Part  II  of  this  book,  to  a  study  of  children's  learning  proc- 
esses in  general.  This  will  leave  for  future  discussion  certain 
special  types  of  learning,  such  as  those  involved  in  training 
children  to  read,  to  write,  to  spell,  to  solve  problems,  to 
understand  and  use  general  ideas,  to  express  themselves  in 
speaking,  writing,  and  drawing,  to  enjoy  music,  games,  and 
reading,  to  be  interested  in  helping  others,  etc. 

Term  "  learning  "  has  broad  meaning ;  learning  to  think, 
to  feel,  to  behave,  etc.  —  These  various  types  of  learning 
suggest  that  the  term  "learning"  is  being  used  here  in  a 
very  broad  way.  Very  often  it  has  been  used  in  school  in  a 
very  narrow  sense,  suggesting  merely  memorizing  of  facts. 
Even  the  everyday  use  of  the  term,  however,  contains  much 
broader  suggestions  than  this,  since  we  speak  of  children 
learning  to  swim,  to  play  the  piano,  to  swear,  to  steal,  to  be 
obedient,  to  be  disrespectful,  to  dislike  poetry,  to  enjoy 
poetry,  to  exercise  self-control,  to  use  good  judgment,  etc. 
Moreover,  in  recent  years  psychologists  have  centered  their 
attention  and  writing  more  and  more  upon  many  kinds  of 
learning  processes,  and  we  find  them  studying  how  a  monkey 
learns  to  open  the  door  of  a  cage,  whether  he  imitates  other 


HOW  CHILDREN  LEARN  159 

monkeys  or  not,  how  white  mice  learn  to  run  blindfolded 
through  complicated  mazes,  how  human  beings  learn  to  open 
puzzle  boxes,  to  solve  puzzle  problems,  to  memorize  poetry, 
to  draw  simple  figures,  etc.  Hence,  the  term  "  learning " 
no  longer  suggests  mere  memorizing  of  facts,  but  suggests 
any  change  that  takes  place  in  a  pupil's  methods  of  think- 
ing or  feeling  or  doing.  For  example,  in  thinking,  he 
learns  to  analyze  carefully  a  problem  in  arithmetic  before 
beginning  to  "cipher"  ;  in  feeling,  he  learns  to  enjoy  com- 
plicated harmonies  or  to  dislike  lying  and  swearing ;  in 
doing,  he  learns  to  pile  blocks,  to  fold  paper,  to  keep  his 
desk  in  order,  to  write  legibly,  to  find  books  in  a  library,  to 
collect  pictures  and  articles  from  magazines,  etc. 

Precise,  objective  investigations  of  learning.  —  In  some 
of  the  psychological  investigations  of  learning,  scientific 
methods  have  been  used  which  have  the  characteristics  noted 
above  on  page  1 10  ;  that  is,  they  are  mathematically  precise, 
objective,  etc.  A  simple  example  of  experimentation  which 
shows  clearly  its  objective  and  precise  character  is  found  in 
the  following  description  by  Thorndike  of  the  way  little 
chickens  learn  to  find  their  way  out  of  a  lonesome  maze 
into  the  pleasant  company  of  other  chickens  in  the  yard. 

Let  a  number  of  chicks,  say  six  to  twelve  days  old,  be  kept  in  a 
yard  (YY  of  figure  on  page  1 60)  adjoining  which  is  a  pen  or  maze 
(ABCDE).  A  chick  is  taken  from  the  group  and  put  in  alone  at 
A.  It  is  confronted  by  a  situation  which  is,  in  essence,  confining 
walls  and  the  absence  of  other  chicks,  food,  and  familiar  surroundings, 
It  reacts  to  the  situation  by  running  around,  making  loud  sounds, 
and  jumping  at  the  walls.  When  it  jumps  at  the  walls  it  has  the 
discomforts  of  thwarted  effort,  and  when  it  runs  to  B  or  C  or  D,  it 
has  a  continuation  of  the  situation  just  described ;  [but]  when  it 
runs  to  E,  it  gets  out  and  has  the  satisfaction  of  being  with  the 
other  chicks,  of  eating,  and  of  being  in  its  usual  habitat.  If  it  is 
repeatedly  put  in  again  at  A,  one  finds  that  it  jumps  and  runs  to 
B  or  C  less  and  less  often,  until  finally  its  only  act  is  to  run  to 


l6o       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


D,  E,  and  out.  It  has  formed  an  association,  or  connection,  or 
bond  between  the  situation  due  to  its  removal  to  A  and  the 
response  of  going  to  E.  In  common  language,  it  has  learned  to  go 
to  E  when  put  at  A,  —  has  learned  the  way  out.  The  decrease  in 
useless  running  and  jumping  and  standing  still  finds  a  representa- 
tive in  the  decreas- 
ing amount  of  time 
taken  by  the  chick 
to  escape.  The  two 
chicks  that  formed 
this  particular  asso- 
ciation, for  example, 
averaged  three  and 
a  half  minutes  (one 
about  three  and  the 
other  about  four) 
for  their  first  five 
trials,  but  came  fi- 
nally to  escape  inva- 
riably within  five  or 
six  seconds.  (3:  125) 

In  later  chap- 
ters on  the  learn- 
ing processes  of 
pupils,  we  shall 
refer  occasionally 
to  such  precise 
objective  investi- 
gations. Unfortunately,  in  the  facts  about  learning  to  be 
discussed  in  this  chapter,  such  precise  experimental  evi- 
dence is  lacking  and  we  shall  have  to  base  our  account 
largely  on  opinion  and  common  observation.  The  first  fact 
which  we  shall  note  is  very  simple,  yet  it  is  so  commonly 
disregarded,  and  is  so  important  in  determining  the  teacher's 
attitude,  that  we  shall  devote  to  it  all  of  this  first  brief 
chapter  oh  how  children  learn. 


MAZE  USED  IN  STUDYING  LEARNING  PROCESSES 
OF  CHICKS 

Each  is  put  in  alone  at  A  and  tries  to  find  its  way  to  Y, 
the  yard.    (After  Thorndike) 


HOW  CHILDREN  LEARN  161 

Pupil  learns  through  his  own  responses,  reactions,  atti- 
tudes, behavior.  —  The  first  fact  referred  to  is  that  a  pupil 
learns  through  his  own  responses,  reactions,  or  behavior. 
Thus  he  learns  to  swim  through  trying  to  swim ;  he  learns 
to  like  simple  rhythmic  poetry  through  the  rhythmic  feelings 
which  it  sets  up  in  him  and  the  rhythmic  enunciation  it 
induces  in  him  ;  he  learns  to  exercise  self-control  through 
"  holding  himself  in,"  time  and  again  ;  he  learns  to  exercise 
careful  judgment  by  time  and  again  taking  the  attitude  of 
"  Let  me  see."  It  is  obvious  in  all  these  cases  that  he 
could  not  learn  through  having  somebody  else  do  the  thing 
for  him  ;  through  having  someone  else  swim,  or  get  the 
rhythmic  feelings,  or  "  hold  himself  in,"  or  take  the  attitude 
of  "  Let  me  see."  Only  by  making  these  responses  himself 
can  the  pupil  acquire  skill  in  swimming,  rhythmic  enjoy- 
ment of  poetry,  and  habits  of  exercising  self-control  and 
careful  judgment. 

Self-activity  of  the  pupil,  not  the  teacher's  activity,  edu- 
cates him.  —  This  general  fact  that  the  pupil  is  educated 
through  his  own  responses,  or  reactions,  or  behavior  is  some- 
times called  the  doctrine  of  self-activity.  The  term  "  self  " 
suggests  the  contrast  with  the  teacher 's  activity,  and  brings 
out  the  fact  that  it  is  what  the  pupil  does  that  educates  him, 
not  merely  what  the  teacher  does.  The  teacher's  actions 
are  effective  only  to  the  extent  that  they  get  each  pupil 
to  make  the  desired  response.  For  example,  the  swim 
ming  teacher  may  go  through  the  motions,  but  the  pupil 
makes  no  progress  in  learning  unless  he  endeavors  to  imi- 
tate the  motions ;  the  literature  teacher  may  emphasize  the 
rhythms  while  reading  aloud,  but  if  the  pupil  lacks  a  sense 
of  rhythm,  as  some  pupils  do,  he  may  make  no  rhythmic 
responses,  get  no  rhythmic  feelings  or  enjoyment,  and,  as 
a  consequence,  he  may  be  quite  puzzled  at  the  teacher's 
enthusiastic  liking  for  the  poem  and  ecstatic  remarks  con- 
cerning it. 


162       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Pupil  inattentive  to  teacher  is  often  learning  through 
surreptitious  self -activity.  —  Regarded  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  pupil's  self-activity,  the  teacher  is  merely  one  part  of  the 
situation  which  may  influence  the  child  and  which  includes 
also  furniture,  books,  and  other  pupils.  Often  a  child  learns 
much  more  from  other  pupils  than  he  does  from  the  teacher, 
because  they  call  forth  more  responses  from  him.  Thus  a 
pupil  may  devote  a  large  part  of  his  activity  during  the  day 
to  learning  from  other  pupils  through  writing  notes,  making 
spitballs,  making  a  pin  hum  or  sing,  drawing  pictures  of 
the  teacher,  etc.  while  the  latter  is  fruitlessly  trying  to  secure 
his  attention.  Often  if  he  is  very  bright  and  the  teacher  is 
quite  slow,  a  pupil  learns  more  through  surreptitious  reading 
of  books  or  through  general  mind-wandering  than  he  does 
through  the  responses  which  the  teacher  stimulates  him  to 
make.  Thus  a  bright  child  may  be  examining  a  map  in  his 
geography  and  playing  a  game  of  locating  places  while  the 
slow  teacher  is  pursuing  a  stupid  child  or  correcting  misbe- 
havior. Hence,  bright  children  may  learn  in  school  in  spite 
of  a  dull  or  slow  teacher  through  their  own  devices  in  finding 
things  to  play  with,  to  think  about,  or  to  read. 

Slow  children  may  be  merely  passive  or  scared  observers 
of  rapid-fire  teacher.  —  At  the  opposite  extreme  from  the 
slow  teacher  who  fails  to  influence  the  self-active  responses 
of  the  bright  pupils  we  find  the  energetic,  nervous,  active, 
scintillating  teacher  who  may  proceed  at  such  a  fast  pace  that 
only  the  bright  pupils  can  grasp  what  is  going  on.  There  is 
abundant  teacher  activity  and  satisfactory  pupil  activity  in  a 
few  cases,  but  most  of  the  pupils,  while  apparently  attentive, 
are  either  completely  swamped  or  mere  passive  observers. 
Their  self-activity  often  consists  merely  in  wondering  what 
it  is  all  about,  or  in  idly  watching  the  teacher's  gyrations,  or 
in  thinking,  "  I  hope  she  won't  call  on  me." 

Recitations  judged  by  relative  amount  of  teacher  activity 
and  pupil  activity.  —  The  contrast  between  the  teacher's 
activity  and  the  pupils'  self-activity  is  often  made  the  basis 


HOW  CHILDREN  LEARN  163 

of  criticizing  and  evaluating  recitations  observed.  Very 
commonly  a  teacher  may  know  all  about  a  subject  and  give 
much  evidence  of  this  fact  by  the  large  amount  of  talking 
which  she  does  in  a  recitation,  but  the  teaching  be  ranked 
as  poor  because  the  children  are  given  so  little  opportunity 
to  respond.  Hence,  prolonged  lecturing  to  pupils  is  con- 
demned as  well  as  the  use  of  many  long  questions  by  the 
teacher  with  brief  or  monosyllabic  answers  from  pupils. 

Another  example  of  superfluous  teacher  activity  which  kills 
pupil  self-activity  is  found  in  the  impatience  of  teachers 
when  children  are  trying  to  think  out  the  ans^ver  to  a 
problem.  Self-activity  in  this  case  involves  the  children's 
thinking  over  their  related  knowledge  and  trying  to  recall 
ideas  to  be  used  in  the  solution.  This  process  takes  time.  A 
skilled  teacher  may  stand  quietly  before  the  class  for  fifteen 
seconds  while  the  pupils  think.  This  may  occur  many  times 
during  a  half-hour  lesson  in  history  or  geography  in  the  mid- 
dle grades.  The  nervous,  unskilled  teacher,  however,  fails 
to  realize  the  mental  activity  that  the  pupils  need  to  carry 
on ;  she  is  anxious  to  secure  the  objective  results,  to  get  the 
answer.  Hence,  she  is  continually  pushing,  nagging,  suggest- 
ing, asking  ten  questions  where  one  should  suffice.  Such  a 
teacher  usually  creates  a  similar  situation  with  her  discipli- 
nary measures,  by  constantly  reproving,  scolding,  threatening. 
The  discipline  comes  to  depend  upon  her  activity  instead  of 
depending  upon  the  pupils'  holding  themselves  in  restraint, 
which  is  one  of  the  highest  forms  of  self-activity. 

Self-control,  self-restraint,  and  inhibition  are  high  forms 
of  self-activity.  —  The  fact  that  self-control,  self-restraint, 
or  self-repression  are  important  and  valuable  parts  of  a 
pupil's  self-activity  is  emphasized  by  Thorndike  in  the 
following  paragraph  : 

Finally,  activity  may  as  well  result  in  the  inhibition  as  in  the 
production  of  ideas  and  feelings  and  movements.  A  fifth-grade 
schoolroom  in  which  children  sit  quietly  reading  or  move  about  in 
a  businesslike  way  may  represent  more  real  activity  than  a  room 


1 64        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

in  which  the  children  are  waving  their  hands,  incessantly  making 
comments  and  asking  questions.  The  first  room  may,  it  is  true, 
represent  mere  repression  and  absence  of  interest  and  work ;  but 
it  may  represent  interest,  thought,  and  work  plus  the  inhibition  of 
aimless  expressions  thereof.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  not  to 
think  the  foolish  irrelevant  thought  is  [an]  essential  of  reasoning ; 
that  not  to  follow  the  wrong  impulse  is  the  essential  of  char- 
acter ;  that  not  to  make  the  aimless  and  crude  movement  is  the 
essential  of  skill.  Success  is  in  great  measure  not  making  failures. 
What  a  man  does  depends  upon  what  impulses  are  neglected  or 
overcome.  We  are  what  we  are  by  reason  of  what  we  are  not  — 
what  we  do  not  permit  ourselves  to  become.  Activity  is  inhibitory 
as  well  as  impulsive.  (2  :  40) 

Mental  experimentation,  often  with  crude  results,  accom- 
panies self -correction.  —  It  is  important  to  notice  that  such 
self-correction  as  Thorndike  emphasizes  is  only  possible, 
however,  if  the  children  are  given  some  opportunities  for 
mental  experimentation,  some  chances  to  think  the  wrong 
thoughts  and  to  correct  themselves,  some  opportunities  to 
make  crude  drawings  and  to  improve  them.  We  had  in 
earlier  chapters  two  good  illustrations  of  neglect  of  this 
fact.  The  first  occurred  on  page  70  in  describing  the  work 
of  kindergarten  teachers  who  prepare  the  materials  for 
pupils  so  completely  that  there  is  little  left  for  the  children 
to  do,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  latter  fail  to  develop 
independent  ability  in  handwork.  The  other  example  of 
failure  to  give  children  opportunities  for  mental  experimen- 
tation was  noted  in  the  efforts  of  Pestalozzi  to  organize 
simple-to-complex  alphabets  which  were  to  be  fed  to  chil- 
dren in  spoonfuls,  as  it  were,  so  that  they  could  progress, 
step  by  step,  without  any  chance  of  making  a  mistake.  The 
facts  concerning  self-activity,  however,  make  it  clear  that 
you  can't  feed  a  pupil  ready-made  education  by  carefully 
graduated  spoonfuls,  but  that  his  learning  depends  upon  his 
own  efforts  in  thinking,  feeling,  talking,  writing,  drawing, 


HOW  CHILDREN  LEARN  165 

and  making ;  that  these  efforts  may  be  quite  crude  at  first ; 
that  they  improve  through  his  own  efforts  at  self-control ;  and 
that  mental  experimentation  by  the  pupil  is  often  necessary 
to  eliminate  crude  and  incorrect  ideas  or  performances. 

Self-correction  relatively  easy  to  suggest  where  product  is 
objective.  —  The  doctrine  of  self-activity  thus  tends  to  focus 
the  attention  of  the  teacher  on  the  reactions  and  responses 
of  the  pupils  as  individuals.  Where  the  end  to  be  attained 
is  represented  by  some  objective  product,  such  as  a  pile  of 
blocks  or  a  doll's  dress  in  the  kindergarten,  or  a  drawing 
of  a  farmhouse  in  the  first  grade,  or  correct  notes  in 
singing,  or  letters  in  handwriting  in  later  grades,  it  is  a 
comparatively  simple  matter  to  decide  whether  each  pupil 
has  made  the  desired  response  and  to  proceed  accordingly. 
For  example,  in  handwriting,  if  the  pupil  grips  his  pen  too 
tightly,  the  teacher  can  observe  this  fact  and  have  the  pupil 
correct  it ;  in  singing,  if  the  pupil  tends  to  be  a  monotone, 
he  may  be  placed  close  to  the  piano  or  to  the  teacher.  Even 
in  such  cases,  however,  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  give  the 
right  cue  or  suggestion  which  will  enable  the  pupil  to  make 
the  correct  response.  For  example,  mispronunciations  are 
easily  observed  and  commented  upon,  but  a  Western  teacher 
had  great  difficulty  in  getting  a  pupil  from  New  York  City 
to  cease  saying  "  feller  "  and  "  idear."  The  pupil  could  not 
see  the  difference  between  his  pronunciation  of  "  idea  "  and 
the  teacher's  ;  he  insisted,  "  I  don't  say  '  idear/  I  say  '  idear ' 
just  like  you  do." 

Inner  responses,  thoughts,  and  feelings  of  pupils  difficult 
to  determine.  —  When  we  come  to  consider  the  inner 
mental  responses  of  pupils,  it  often  requires  great  skill  to 
determine  if  each  pupil  has  made  the  correct  response. 
Very  often  we  have  to  depend  on  what  the  child  says,  but 
his  words  may  belie  his  thoughts.  For  example,  a  first-grade 
class  in  a  wealthy  community  read  very  glibly,  "  The  three 
little  pigs  went  out  to  make  their  living,"  but  not  a  child  in 


1 66       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

the  class  knew  what  it  meant  "to  make  a  living,"  and  the 
teacher  discovered  the  fact  by  an  accidental  question.  In 
the  case  of  the  response  of  enjoying  a  poem,  we  have  even 
greater  difficulty  in  getting  the  "  inside  facts  "  of  the  pupil's 
mental  reactions ;  he  may  be  merely  memorizing  it,  or  think- 
ing "  I  wonder  when  the  bell  will  ring,"  or,  worse,  feeling 
more  or  less  disgusted  with  the  whole  matter.  In  the  case  of 
effective  problem  solving,  we  are  often  at  a  loss  to  know 
whether  a  pupil  is  really  actively  searching  in  his  mind  for 
suggestions  and  carefully  weighing  each,  or  whether  he  is 
merely  voicing  the  first  idea  that  pops  into  his  head,  or  lazily 
sitting  back  and  thinking  "  I  wonder  who  will  answer 
this  one." 

Artistic  teacher  understands pupiV s  mental  responses  and 
means  of  changing  them.  —  A  skilled  teacher  must,  there- 
fore, be  an  artist  in  understanding  children's  ways  of  think- 
ing, feeling,  and  expressing.  She  must  be  able  to  infer 
skillfully  from  a  pupil's  words  and  outer  attitude  what  are 
the  inside  facts.  Having  inferred  his  mental  condition,  she 
must  know  just  what  cue  to  give,  what  question  to  ask,  what 
information  to  add,  what  praise  or  criticism  to  bestow,  in 
order  to  start  the  pupil's  mental  responses  in  the  desired 
direction.  In  order  to  do  this,  she  must  understand  the  con- 
ditions which  determine  a  pupil's  response  to  any  situation. 
These  conditions  will  be  taken  up  in  separate  chapters. 
The  first  condition,  namely,  the  influence  of  the  pupil's 
previous  experience,  will  be  taken  up  in  the  next  chapter. 
For  a  summary  of  the  present  chapter,  the  first  on  children's 
learning  processes,  the  reader  may  return  to  page  157. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  references  marked  with  an  asterisk  are  especially  recommended 
to  beginners. 

*  i .  FREEMAN,  F.  N.  How  Children  Learn.  (Houghton  Mifflin 
Company,  1917.)  Read  the  entire  volume  for  an  excellent  elementary 
account  of  all  topics  in  Part  II  of  this  text. 


HOW  CHILDREN  LEARN  167 

*  2.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.  The  Principles  of  Teaching.  (A.  G.  Seller, 
1 906.)  Pp.  39-41 .  The  discussion  printed  above  is  largely  a  paraphrase 
of  these  excellent  pages  in  Thorndike's  text. 

3.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.  Educational  Psychology,  Briefer  Course. 
(Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1915.)  Part  II,  on  the 
psychology  of  learning.  Technical  discussions  for  advanced  students. 


CHAPTER  VII 

BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES 
THE  DOCTRINE  OF  APPERCEPTION 

Main  points  of  the  chapter.  —  i .  Varied  interpretations  of 
words  illustrate  the  influence  of  past  experiences  in  determining 
pupils'  responses. 

2.  Children's    correct    statements    often    disguise    their    real 
ignorance. 

3.  Scientific  investigations  of  the  contents  of  children's  minds 
upon  entering  school  reveal  their  vast  ignorance  of  common  objects. 

4.  Rousseau  proposed  to  correct  the  parrotlike  recitations  of 
meaningless  words  by  introducing  object  teaching,  nature  study, 
measuring,  etc. 

5.  Efforts  to  carry  out  these  reforms,  however,  soon  degenerated 
into  memorizing  books  about  objects. 

6.  Even  the  kindergarten  ascribed  to  children  ability  to  under- 
stand abstract  ideas  that  never  entered  the  heads  of  most  of  them. 

7.  Properly  taught  home  geography,  which  uses  local  situations, 
illustrates  giving  children  adequate  real  experiences.    Modeling  in 
sand  and  clay  is  widely  used  to  make  surface  features  vivid. 

8.  Teachers  need  thorough  specialized  training  to  teach  realities 
instead  of  meaningless  words. 

To  determine  how  past  experiences  influence  present  re- 
sponses. —  The  preceding  chapter  described  the  way  pupils 
learn  through  their  own  mental  responses  and  reactions.  It 
closed  with  the  fact  that  artistic  teachers  must  be  quite 
skilled  in  guessing  just  what  are  the  inner  mental  responses 
of  each  pupil,  and  in  understanding  the  conditions  which 
determine  and  influence  these  responses.  The  first  of  these 
determining  conditions  will  be  discussed  in  this  chapter ; 
namely,  the  influence  of  the  pupil's  past  experience. 

168 


BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES     169 

Examples  of  mental  responses  to  "bay,"  "Belgium" 
"  abolition."  -  If  we  examine  a  simple  illustration  from 
ordinary  life  we  can  easily  see  how  a  person's  past  experience 
influences  his  response  to  some  present  situation.  For 
example,  notice  what  idea  or  mental  response  is  aroused  in 
your  own  mind  when  you  now  read  the  word  "  bay."  Then 
imagine  the  different  mental  interpretations  that  would  prob- 
ably be  aroused  by  the  same  word  in  the  minds  of  each  of 
the  following  persons  :  a  horse  dealer,  a  carpenter,  a  boy 
studying  geography,  a  domestic-science  student.  In  your 
own  case  and  in  each  of  the  others  it  is  easy  to  explain  the 
particular  response  made  by  referring  to  past  experiences. 
Differences  in  emotional  responses  to  the  same  word  or 
situation  are  also  partially  explained  by  differences  in  past 
experiences;  for  example,  the  word  "Belgium"  now  arouses 
in  Americans  an  entirely  different  type  of  feeling  from  that 
aroused  before  the  experiences  of  the  Great  War.  Similarly, 
during  our  Civil  War  the  emotional  responses  aroused  in 
Northerners  were  quite  different  from  those  aroused  in 
Southerners  by  the  words  "Lincoln,"  "Jefferson  Davis," 
"  abolition,"  "  states'  rights." 

Teacher  builds  on  pupils  old  experiences  and  provides 
necessary  iwv  ones.  —  When  we  turn  to  the  mental  re- 
sponses of  children  in  school,  we  see  the  pedagogical  sig- 
nificance of  such  examples.  Since  the  same  words  may 
arouse  different  ideas  and  feelings  in  the  minds  of  different 
persons,  depending  upon  their  past  experiences,  it  is  very 
important  that  a  teacher  make  sure  that  each  pupil  does 
interpret  the  words  used  in  the  ways  that  she  desires.  In 
order  to  do  this,  she  must  understand  clearly  his  past  experi- 
ences and  build  her  instruction  upon  these.  If  he  has  had 
the  necessary  experience  she  must  connect  the  new  teaching 
with  it ;  if  he  lacks  the  necessary  real  experiences  to  arouse 
the  proper  ideas  or  feelings,  these  real  experiences  must  be 
provided.  This  is  known  as  the  principle  of  apperception. 


I  ;o       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Words  used  as  meaningless  jingle.  Counting.  —  One  of 
the  most  common  violations  of  the  principle  of  apperception 
in  teaching  is  found  in  the  tendency  to  assume  that  children 
can  count  because  they  can  say  "one,  two,  three,  four,"  etc. 


GIVING  CITY  KINDERGARTEN  CHILDREN  REAL  EXPERIENCES 
WITH   CHICKENS 

Story  of  the  above  picture.  —  The  story  of  this  picture  is  well 
represented  in  the  following  sentences  composed  by  the'  kinder- 
garten children  of  The  University  of  Chicago  Elementary  School 
and  written  down  by  their  teacher. 

OUR  MOTHER  HEN  AND  HER  CHICKS 

We  went  to  the  grocery  store  and  bought  a  barrel  and  carried  it 
home.  Then  we  made  a  nest  of  straw.  The  next  day  Miss  Gordon 
brought  us  a  mother  hen  and  thirteen  eggs. 

We  named  her  "  Brownie  Red  Head."  She  is  a  big  hen  with 
feathers  on  her  legs. 

We  put  the  eggs  in  the  nest  and  put  the  hen  on  them.  We  set  her 
April  7,  1916.  She  sat  three  weeks.  We  fed  her  corn  and  gave  her  water. 

Five  chickens  hatched  on  the  27th  and  the  next  day  the  rest  hatched. 

The  little  chickens  were  all  yellow.    Some  had  black  spots  on  them. 

We  have  to  feed  them  every  day. 


BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES     171 

A  group  of  such  children,  five-year-olds,  who  had  remarked 
proudly  that  they  could  count,  were  asked  to  count  an 
adult's  fingers  as  she  held  up  one  hand  and  pointed  in 
turn  at  the  five  fingers  with  the  other.  The  children  recited 
their  rigmarole  of  "  one,  two,  three,"  etc.  clear  up  through 
twelve  before  the  lady  had  finished  pointing  at  the  fourth 
finger.  Other  trials  made  with  these  children  showed  they 
had  no  number  ideas  at  all  connected  with  most  of  these 
number  names.  The  latter  were  for  the  children  merely  a 
meaningless  jingle  like  "  eenie,  meenie,  minie,  mo."  They 
had  never  had  real  experiences  in  counting  objects,  but  had 
merely  learned  the  jingle  of  number  names  through  hearing 
other  children  or  adults  say  them. 

Lack  of  real  experiences  illustrated  by  slum  children's 
ideas.  —  The  contrast  between  the  real  experiences  of  coun- 
try children  and  city  children  furnishes  many  illustrations 
of  the  dependence  of  a  pupil's  responses  upon  his  previous 
experiences  and  the  necessity  of  the  teacher's  taking  careful 
account  of  the  lack  of  adequate  previous  experience.  This 
lack  of  experience  is  often  made  the  subject  of  humorous 
incidents  from  school  life.  One  of  these  from  the  experi- 
ences of  the  fictitious  Miss  Bailey  with  a  slum  class  of 
Jewish  children  in  New  York  is  described  by  Myra  Kelly 
in  her  fascinating  story  of  school  life  entitled  "  Little 
Citizens."  MissBailey^  the  teacher,  had  tried  unsuccessfully 
to  move  her  first-grade  pupils  with  poems  about  nature,  but 
they  merely  jjstened  "_in  courteous  but  .puzzled  silence." 
Finally,  after^reading  a  poem  about  a  lark  and  making  vain 
efforts  to  get  f rorr?  thlTchildren  some  real  ideas  of  this  bird 
the  story  proceeds  as  follows : 

"  Well,"  Morris  began  with  renewed  confidence,  "  I  know  what 
is  a  bird.  My  auntie  she  had  one  from  long.  She  says  like  that, 
she  should  give  it  to  me,  but  my  mamma  she  says,  '  No,  birds 
is  foolishness.'  But  I  know  what  is  a  bird.  He  scups  on  a  stick 
in  a  cage." 


1/2        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

"  So  he  does,"  agreed  Miss  Bailey,  rightly  inferring  from 
Morris's  expressive  pantomime  that  to  "  scup "  was  to  swing. 
"  But  sometimes  he  flies  up  into  the  sky  in  the  country,  as  I  was 
reading  to  you.  Were  you  ever  in  the  country  ? " 

"  What  country  ?  "  asked  Morris.  "  Russia  ?  I  comes  out  of 
Russia." 

"  No,  not  Russia.  Not  any  particular  country.  Just  the  open 
country  where  the  flowers  grow." 

"  No  ma'an,  I  ain't  seen  it,"  said  the  child  gently.  "  But  I  was 
once  to  Tompkins  Square.  On'y  it  was  winter  und  snow  lays  on 
it  I  ain't  seen  no  flowers." 

"  And  do  none  of  you  know  anything  about  the  country  ? " 
asked  Teacher  sadly. 

"  Oh,  yiss  ma'an,  I  know,"  said  Eva  Gonorowsky.  "  The 
country  is  the  Fresh  Air  Fund." 

"  Then  you  've  been  there,"  cried  Miss  Bailey.  "  Tell  us  about 
it,  Eva." 

"  No  ma'an,  I  ain't  seen  it,"  said  Eva  proudly.  "  I'm  healthy. 
But  a  girl  on  my  block  she  had  a  sickness  und  so  she  goes.  She 
tells  me  all  times  how  is  the  country.  It 's  got  grass  stickin'  right 
up  out  of  it.  Grass  und  flowers  !  No  ma'an,  I  ain't  never  seen  it :  I 
don't  know  where  is  it  even,  but  oh !  it  could  to  be  awful  pretty !  " 

"  Yes,  honey,  it  is,"  said  Teacher.  "  Very,  very  pretty.  When 
I  was  a  little  girl  I  lived  in  the  country." 

"  All  day  ?  "  asked  Morris. 

"  Yes,  all  day." 

"  Und  all  night  ?  " 

"  Yes,  dear." 

"  Oh,  poor  Miss  Bailey,"  crooned  Eva.  "  It  could  to  be  a  awful 
sickness  what  you  had." 

"  No,  I  was  very  well.  I  lived  in  the  country  because  my  father 
had  a  house  there,  and  I  played  all  day  in  the  garden." 

"  Were  n't  you  scared  of  the  lions? "  asked  Patrick  in  incredulous 
admiration. 

"  We  had  no  lions,"  Miss  Bailey  explained  apologetically.  "  But 
we  had  rabbits  and  guinea  pigs  and  a  horse  and  a  cow  and 
chickens  and  ducks  and  —  and  — 

"  Und  eleflints,"  Morris  suggested  hopefully. 


BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES     173 

"  No,  we  had  no  elephants,"  Teacher  was  forced  to  admit.  "  But 
we  had  a  turtle  and  a  monkey." 

"  Did  your  papa  have  a  organ  ? "  asked  Sadie  Gonorowsky. 
"  Organs  mit  monkeys  is  stylish  for  mans." 

"  Think  shame  how  you  says  !  "  cried  her  cousin  Eva  reproach- 
fully. "  Teacher  ain't  no  Ginney.  Organs  ain't  for  Sheenies.  They 
ain't  for  Krishts  even.  They  all,  all  for  Ginneys." 

"  So  's  monkeys,"  said  Sadie,  unabashed.  "  Und  organs  mit 
monkeys  is  stylish." 

The  ^children's  deep  interest  in  the  anirnaljdngdpm  gave_Miss 
_Bailgy  the  point  ofl4epafture~?or  which  she  had  been  seeking. 
She  abandoned  Wordsworth  and  Shelley,  and  she  bought  a  rabbit 
andjj.  pair  of  jwhite^  mice.  The  First-Reader  class  was  enchanted. 
A  canary  in  a  gilded  cage  soon  hung  before  the  window  and 
"  scupped  "  most  energetically  while  goldfish  in  their  bowl  swam 
lazily  back  and  forth.  From  these  living  texts  Miss  Bailey  easily 
preached  care  and  kindness  towards  all  creatures,  and  Room  18 
came  to  be  an  energetic,  though  independent,  branch  of  the 
S.  P.  C.  A.  (9:324-331.  Copyright  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.) 

The  content  of  primary  children's  minds  ;  ignorance  of 
common  objects.  —  Such  examples  of  pupils'  lack  of  real 
knowledge  of  common  objects  early  led  to  careful  investiga- 
tions of  the  ignorance  of  primary  children.  One  such  study 
is  entitled  "  The  Contents  of  Children's  Minds  on  Entering 
School,"  and  was  made  by  G.  S.  Hall,  in  Boston,  in  1880. 
He  had  a  number  of  trained  kindergarten  teachers  take 
first-grade  children  individually  and  question  them  tactfully 
and  skillfully  to  find  out  what  were  their  ideas  of  certain 
common  objects.  One  child,  for  example,  said,  "A  cow  is 
as_bjg^s_yojLii^fin^erjTail.''  Other  examples  from  the  inves- 
tigation which  illustrate  the  percentage  of  ignorance  found 
in  the  children  are  presented  in  the  table  printed  below.  The 
items  in  the  table  should  be  read  as  follows  : 

Of  ordinary  Boston  children  entering  the  first  grade, 
80  per  cent  do  not  know  what  a  beehive  is ; 
77  per  cent  do  not  know  what  a  crow  is. 


174       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

TABLE  SHOWING  PERCENTAGE  OF  BOSTON  FIRST-GRADE  CHILDREN 
WHO  ARE  IGNORANT  OF  EACH  ITEM  AS  NOTED 


Beehive  .... 

.     .     80 

What  sea 
Location 
Location 
Spade 
Blue  .     . 

ison  it  is  .     . 
of  ribs    . 
of  elbows    . 

•     75-5 
.     90 
•     25 
62 

Crow  

77 

Sparrow  .  .  .  . 
Hen  .'.... 

'.    '     57 

IQ 

Oak  tree  .... 
Maple  tree  .  .  . 
Growing  dandelion  . 
Dew 

.      .       87 
.       .       83 

.      .       52 
78 

I  A 

Red  .  . 

Triangle 
Circle 

Q2 

\JA 

TC 

Teachers  often  ignorant  of  reality ;  practice  teacher  and 
pine  trees.  —  The  principle  of  apperception  would  require 
a  teacher  to  canvass  carefully  the  stock  of  ideas  possessed 
by  her  pupils  to  determine  such  facts  as  were  ascertained 
by  Miss  Bailey  and  Mr.  Hall.  Very  often,  however,  teachers 
are^  not  ^nly  content  to  teach  mere  words  but  are  ignorant 
themselves  of  the  real  objects  or  ideas  which  the  words 
represent.  A  striking  example  of  the  complacent  accept- 
ance by  an  adult  of  words  without  adequate  meanings  is 
found  in  the  plans  of  a  practice  teacher  who  was  preparing 
to  teach  fourth-grade  children  about  pine  trees.  She  read 
up  on  the  subject,  worked  on  her  plans  for  several  days,  and 
brought  them  to  the  supervisor  for  approval.  The  latter 
asked  her  if  she  had  ever  seen  a  pine  tree.'  The  practice 
teacher  replied,  "Not  to  my  knowledge,"  in  .spite  of  the 
fact  that  there  were  numerous  pine  trees  in  the  vicinity. 
The  supervisor  sent  the  practice  teacher  to  find  and  examine 
these,  and  directed  her  to  include  an  excursion  to  the  trees 
by  the  children  as  one  of  the  first  parts  of  her  plan. 

Children  also  misunderstand  words  expressing  abstrac- 
tions. —  If  the  ignorance  of  children  and  adults  concerning 
common  objects  is  impressive,  even  more  so  is  their  igno- 
rance of  words  which  express  abstract  ideas  and  relations 
between  ideas.  The  failure  to  comprehend  simple  abstract 


BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES     175 

ideas  was  illustrated  in  the  counting  example  given  earlier  in 
the  chapter,  in  which  children  used  number  names  merely 
as  a  jingle  of  sounds.  The  difficulties  which  children  may 
have  with  such  abstract  ideas  when  encountered  in  their 
reading  is  illustrated  in  the  following  quotation  : 

The  child  who  read  that  "  the  Pilgrims  sought  an  asylum 
in  Holland  "  and  recited,  "  The  Pilgrims  went  to  an  asylum  in 
Holland,"  needed  to  have  this  idea  investigated,  and,  as  it  turned 
out,  corrected  as  well.  .  .  .  The  author  who  writes  for  fifth-grade 
pupils  that  "  the  Norwegians  are  famous  for  their  tenacity  of  will  " 
writes  over  the  heads  of  his  readers.  Even  so  simple  a  statement 
as  the  one  that  "  the  mountains  of  Japan  are  too  near  the  coast 
to  admit  of  long  rivers "  causes  misunderstandings,  since  with 
school  children  admit  means  to  allow  to  enter.  (4:  102) 

History  of  recognition  of  apperception.  Rousseau 's  objec- 
tion to  mirror-like ,  parrot  recitations.  —  The  most  important 
modern  recognition  of  the  futility  of  mere  word  teaching 
without  adequate  basis  in  real  experience  is  found  in  Rous- 
seau's proposals  (1762)  for  a  more  intimate  study  of  child 
experience.  He  used  an  interesting  figure  of  speech  in 
comparing  a  mirror  with  a  child's  recitation  of  mere  words. 
He  said  the  child  reflects  back  the  words  which  he  learns 
"and  those  who  hear  these  words  understand  them,  but  the 
child  does  not."  In  place  of  mirror-like,  parrot  recitations, 
Rousseau  proposed  giving  real  ideas  through  object  study, 
nature  study,  home  geography,  excursions,  manual  training, 
observation  of  industries,  measurement,  etc. 

Well-intentioned  Pestalozzians  went  astray ;  memorizing 
definitions  ;  Dickens'1  s  satire.  —  As  a  result  of  Rousseau's 
appeal  in  his  "  fimile,"  Pestalozzi  and  his  followers  organ- 
ized schemes  of  object  teaching  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
children  real  knowledge  of  the  real  things  of  nature  and 
industry,  from  the  most  common  to  the  most  remote.  Even 
this  instruction,  however,  soon  degenerated  into  learning 
from  books  mere  descriptions  of  objects.  In  England  the 


176       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

recitations  based  on  these  books  were  amusingly  satirized 
by  Charles  Dickens  in  the  following  contrast  between  the 
recitations  by  Sissy  Jupe,  who  knew  horses  from  real  ex- 
perience, and  Red-eyed  Bitzer,  who  knew  the  prescribed 
definition  contained  in  the  textbook  of  the  Home  and 
Colonial  Infant  School  Society. 

Sissy  Jupe,  Girl  No.  20,  the  daughter  of  a  strolling  circus  actor, 
whose  life,  no  small  share  of  it,  has  been  passed  under  the  canvas; 
whose  knowledge  of  horse  .  .  .  extends  back  as  far  as  memory 
reaches  ;  familiar  with  the  form  and  food,  the  powers  and  habits  and 
everything  relating  to  the  horse ;  .  .  .  Sissy  Jupe  has  been  asked 
to  define  horse.  .  .  .  Bewildered  [however]  by  the  striking  want 
of  resemblance  between  the  horse  of  her  own  conceptions  and  the 
prescribed  formula  that  represents  the  animal  in  the  books  of 
the  Home  and  Colonial  Society,  she  dares  not  trust  herself  with 
the  confusing  description,  and  shrinks  from  it  in  silence  and 
alarm. 

"  Girl  No.  20  unable  to  define  a  horse,"  said  Mr.  Gradgrind. 

Girl  No.  20  is  declared  possessed  of  no  facts  in  reference  to 
one  of  the  commonest  of  animals,  and  appeal  is  made  to  one  Red- 
eyed  Bitzer,  who  knows  horse  practically  only  as  he  has  seen  a 
picture  of  a  horse  or  as  he  has,  perhaps,  sometimes  safely  weathered 
the  perils  of  a  crowded  street-crossing. 

"  Bitzer,"  said  Thomas  Gradgrind,  "  your  definition  of  a  horse  !  " 

"  Quadruped.  Graminivorous.  Forty  teeth,  namely :  twenty- 
four  grinders,  four  eye  teeth,  and  twelve  incisive.  Sheds  coat  in 
the  Spring;  in  marshy  countries  sheds  hoofs  too.  Hoofs  hard, 
but  requiring  to  be  shod  with  iron.  Age  known  by  marks  in 
mouth."  Thus  [and  much  more]  Bitzer. 

"Now  Girl  No.  20,"  said  Mr.  Gradgrind,  "you  know  what  a 
horse  is."  (8  :  363-364) 

Present-day  examples  of  memorizing  geography  "  stories" 

-  That  such  instruction  has  not  entirely  disappeared  from 

our  schools  is  easily  ascertained  by  observing  teachers  who 

are  having  children  memorize  and  recite  "  stories  "  of  coal, 

iron,  wheat,  etc.  found  in  their  geographies.    For  example, 


BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES     177 

the  following  paragraph  about  "what  the  cow  furnishes 
us "  parallels  closely  Red-eyed  Bitzer's  recitation.  It  is 
quoted  from  a  "  home  "  geography. 

Do  you  know  how  cheese  is  made  ?  The  milk  is  first  curdled 
by  putting  into  it  some  liquid  rennet.  Rennet  is  the  name  given 
to  a  preparation  made  from  the  inner  coating  of  the-  calf's  stomach. 
The  curd  is  separated  from  the  watery  part  of  the  milk,  which  is 
called  whey,  and  then  pressed  into  solid  cakes.  The  curd  is  then 
called  cheese. 

In  commenting  on  this  paragraph  one  writer  says : 

To  the  few  children  who  have  seen  cheese  made  in  this  way, 
or  who  have  actually  made  it  in  this  way,  the  foregoing  paragraph 
is  concrete,  but  to  those  who  have  not  had  this  experience  and  to 
whom  this  experience  is  not  supplied,  this  paragraph  is  about  as 
meaningful  as  the  rule  for  extracting  cube  root  found  in  our  older 
arithmetics.  To  take  children  under  these  conditions  over  page 
after  page  of  such  material  is  a  waste  of  good  time.  (3  :  534) 

Kindergartens  ascribed  to  cJiildren  impossible  abstract 
ideas.  —  As  we  noted  in  an  earlier  chapter,  another  direct 
outcome  of  Rousseau's  demands  to  base  teaching  on  a  study 
of  childhood  was  the  organization  of  the  kindergarten.  As 
we  have  stated  several  times,  the  fundamental  kindergarten 
idea  was  to  give  children  experiences  with  community  ac- 
tivities and  natural  objects  through  play.  Even  here,  how- 
ever, in  the  very  center  of  the  movement  to  base  education 
on  children's  instincts  and  capacities,  we  find  the  most 
curious  failure  to  appreciate  the  limitations  of  children's 
understandings.  Froebel,  the  founder  of  the  kindergarten, 
was  a  person  of  peculiarly  mystical  temperament.  This  tem- 
perament, coupled  with  the  extreme  religious  atmosphere  of 
his  father's  house,  led  him  to  write  such  foolish  statements 
as  those  printed  below  concerning  children's  mental  re- 
sponses in  playing  in  the  kindergarten  with  the  cube  and 
ball  and  in  such  games  as  "  Ring  around  a  Rosy "  and 


Courtesy  01  TeaUicrs  College,  Columbia  University 

REALITIES  REPLACE  SYMBOLISM  IN  MODERN  KINDERGARTEN 

As  early  as  1781  Pestalozzi  suggested  teaching  little  children  in  school  to  lace 

their  shoes 


Courtesy  of  Teachers  College,  Columbia  Univ 

TOY  COWS  USED   IN   MODERN   KINDERGARTEN 

A  rich  topic  for  training  in  expression,  construction,  problem  solving,  and  knowledge 
of  animal  needs  and  uses 


BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES     179 

"The  Farmer's  in  the  Dell."  In  reading  these  statements 
do  not  struggle  to  understand  them,  because  they  are  incom- 
prehensible to  most  persons. 

The  child  .  .  .  [says  Froebel]  perceives  in  the  ball  the  general 
expression  of  each  object  as  well  as  of  itself  [the  child]  as  a  self- 
dependent  whole  and  unity  ...  so  the  child  likes  to  employ  him- 
self with  the  ball,  even  early  in  life,  in  order  to  cultivate  and 
fashion  himself,  though  unconsciously,  through  and  by  it,  as  that 
which  is  his  opposite  and  yet  resembles  him. 

The  cube  is  to  the  child  the  representative  of  each  continually 
developing  manifold  body.  The  child  has  an  intimation  in  it  of 
the  unity  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  manifoldness  and 
from  which  the  latter  proceeds. 

The  pleasure  with  which  the  children  play  these  games  and 
others  of  a  similar  kind  may  therefore  have  its  ground  in  a  presen- 
timent of  what  is  symbolic  and  significant  in  them.  May  not  their 
delight  in  these  encircling  movements,  for  example,  spring  from 
the  longing  and  the  effort  to  get  an  all-round  or  all-sided  grasp  of 
an  object  ?  .  .  .  I  am  convinced  that  the  exalted  and  often  ecstatic 
delight  of  children  in  their  simple  movement  plays  is  by  no  means 
to  be  explained  through  the  exertion  of  mere  physical  force — mere 
bodily  activity.  The  true  source  of  their  joy  is  the  dim  premonition 
which  stirs  their  sensitive  hearts  that  in  their  play  there  is  hidden 
a  deep  significance;  that  it  is,  in  fact,  the  husk  within  which  is 
concealed  the  kernel  of  a  living  spiritual  truth.  (8 :  440) 

FroebcV  s  absurdities  satirized  by  T/iorndikc.  —  The  ab- 
surdity of  Froebel's  misunderstanding  of  the  responses  of 
ordinary  children  to  common  playthings  led  Thorndike 
to  write  the  following  satire : 

And  what  shall  I  say  of  those  who  by  a  most  extraordinary  in- 
tellectual perversity  attribute  to  children  the  habit  of  using  common 
things  as  symbols  of  abstractions  which  have  never  in  any  way 
entered  their  heads;  who  tell  us  that  the  girl  likes  to  play  with 
her  doll  because  the  play  symbolizes  to  her  motherhood ;  that  the 
boy  likes  to  be  out  of  doors  because  the  sunlight  symbolizes  to 
him  cheerfulness  ?  . 


Courtesy  of  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University 
KINDERGARTEN  CHILDREN   GARDENING 
This  activity  needs  no  symbolic  justification  as  a  kindergarten  topic 


Courtesy  ot  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University 
KINDERGARTEN  CHILDREN  RAKING  LEAVES 

Do  these  children  "  like  to  be  outdoors  because  the  sunlight  symbolizes  to  them 
cheerfulness  "  ?  See  bottom  of  page  179 


BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES      181 

If  we  live  in  houses  because  they  symbolize  protection,  if  we 
like  to  see  Sherlock  Holmes  on  the  stage  because  he  symbolizes 
to  us  craft,  or  Uncle  Tom  because  he  symbolizes  to  us  slavery,  or 
a  clown  from  the  circus  because  he  symbolizes  to  us  folly ;  if  we 
eat  apples  because  they  symbolize  to  us  the  fall  of  man,  or  straw- 
berries because  they  symbolize  to  us  the  scarlet  woman,  then  per- 
haps the  children  play  with  the  ball  because  it  symbolizes  "  infinite 
development  and  absolute  limitation." 

No  one  has  ever  given  a  particle  of  valid  evidence  to  show  any 
such  preposterous  associations  in  children's  minds  between  plain 
things  and  these  far-away  abstractions.  (2:  77-80) 

As  a  result  of  such  criticisms,  progressive  kindergartners 
tend  to  emphasize  such  activities  with  playhouses,  grocery 
stores,  etc.  as  were  described  above  on  pages  126-127,  ex~ 
pecting  that  children  will  acquire  only  the  useful  everyday 
knowledge  and  habits  connected  with  these. 

Summary  of  apperception ;  meaning,  recognition,  viola- 
tion. —  In  our  discussion  of  apperception  up  to  this  point, 
we  have  noted  (i)  how  adult  responses  are  influenced  by 
their  past  experiences  as  illustrated  by  varied  responses  to 
the  word  "bay,"  (2)  how  city  children  lack  adequate  real  ex- 
periences to  understand  statements  about  many  common 
objects,  (3)  how  teachers  tend  to  accept  mere  words  from 
a  child  as  signs  of  ideas  which  he  often  lacks,  (4)  how 
Rousseau  proposed  to  give  children  real  ideas  through  ade- 
quate experiences  with  nature,  industries,  etc.,  (5)  how  these 
proposals  resulted  in  mere  word  knowledge  of  objects  through 
many  Pestalozzian  object-teaching  books,  and  (6)  how  the 
founder  of  the  kindergarten,  although  inspired  by  the  Rousseau 
movement,  attributed  to  children  ability  to  understand  abstract 
ideas  that  never  enter  the  heads  of  most  of  them. 

Review  of  examples  of  proper  provisions  for  apperception. 

-  Much  of  this  discussion  has  necessitated  descriptions  of 

mistaken  practices.    These  have  been  presented,  however, 

in  order  to  impress  beginning  teachers  with  the  importance 


1 82        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

of  building  their  instruction  upon  children's  real  experiences 
and  providing  adequate  new  real  experiences  where  these 
have  been  lacking.  Incidentally  in  the  chapter  correct  prac- 
tices were  suggested ;  for  example,  Miss  Bailey  introduced 
a  canary,  a  rabbit,  white  mice,  and  goldfish  into  her  first- 
grade  room  for  slum  children  ;  the  practice  teacher  was  told 
to  arrange  an  excursion  to  neighboring  pine  trees.  Other 
examples  of  correct  provision  for  real  experiences  and  real 
ideas  were  given  in  earlier  chapters  ;  for  example,  in  the  de- 
scription of  the  teaching  of  North  America  on  pages  117- 
121,  and  the  description  of  the  psychological  organization 
of  history  teaching  on  pages  135-140.  In  order  to  reen- 
force  these  positive  suggestions  for  observing  the  principle 
of  apperception,  we  shall  describe  one  further  example ; 
namely,  the  teaching  of  home  geography. 

Home  geography  makes  geographic  ideas  real ;  from  near 
to  remote.  —  The  old-fashioned  teaching  of  geography  began 
with  books  and  required  memorizing  of  encyclopedic  unre- 
lated facts  which  were  commonly  uncomprehended.  Maps 
were  little  used  except  for  locations  of  boundaries,  capes, 
bays,  cities,  etc.  Little  training  was  given  even  in  the 
use  of  these  maps,  while  surface  maps,  globes,  and  sand 
reliefs  were  entirely  absent.  All  these  practices  should  be 
corrected  by  beginning  with  real  home  geography  and  pro- 
ceeding to  more  remote  places  and  ideas,  as  described  below. 

Ideas  of  people.  —  In  the  modern  teaching  of  geography  the 
studies  of  the  local  community  begun  in  the  kindergarten  give 
notions  of  people  and  their  occupations.  The  history  stories 
and  activities  in  the  primary  grades  give  the  children  ideas  of 
life  in  deserts,  on  the  sea,  in  mountains,  in  Greece,  Rome,  etc. 

Mapping  neighborhood.  —  Systematic  geography  teaching 
may  begin  about  the  third  grade  by  having  the  children 
make  a  map  of  the  school  yard  and  vicinity,  locating  on  it 
houses,  sidewalks,  trees,  etc.,  and  labeling  each  of  these 
appropriately.  Gradually  the  map  is  extended  to  include 


BUILDING  ON  PUPIL'S  PAST  EXPERIENCES     183 

the  neighborhood,  and,  if  conditions  permit,  the  children 
may  map  roughly  all  of  the  region  in  sight  from  some 
elevation,  such  as  a  neighboring  hill.  These  elementary 
facts  about  place  and  direction  are  reenforced  by  studies 
in  local  history,  commonly  in  the  fourth  grade.  These 
studies  extend  the  child's  idea  of  his  neighborhood  to 
include  the  first  place  of  settlement,  the  location  of  the 
first  trading  posts  or  farms,  the  growth  of  the  population, 
the  building  of  roads,  canals,  railroads,  etc. 

Globe  as  Jiome  of  historic  peoples.  —  By  the  middle  of  the 
fourth  grade,  children  who  have  had  the  work  described 
above  have  sufficient  notions  of  directions  and  locations,  and 
of  different  peoples,  to  begin  the  location  of  these  upon 
the  earth.  A  globe  some  twenty  inches  in  diameter  is  sus- 
pended in  the  room  and  children  are  provided  with  six-inch 
globes,  which  cost  only  twenty-five  cents  and  are  used  at 
their  seats.  Upon  these  they  may  locate  their  home  and  the 
homes  of  the  Vikings,  Greeks,  and  Romans,  whom  they  have 
studied.  Proceeding  always  in  this  concrete  way,  from  the 
lives  and  customs  of  peoples  to  a  study  of  their  location  upon 
the  earth,  the  work  in  geography  reaches  the  study  of  North 
America,  which  was  described  in  detail  on  page  117.  In  this 
account  the  extensive  use  of  pictures  was  noted,  to  give 
reality  to  the  pupils'  ideas  of  remote  industries,  mountains, 
canons,  etc. 

Modeling  clarifies  geograpJiic  ideas ;  Pestalozzian  ex- 
ample. —  Finally,  we  may  note  one  of  the  most  striking 
devices  which  is  used  to  give  reality  to  geographic  ideas ; 
namely,  modeling  in  sand  or  clay.  One  of  the  first  exam- 
ples of  the  use  of  this  device  occurs  in  the  work  of  Pestalozzi 
about  1805  in  Switzerland.  Some  of  his  lessons  were 
described  by  a  pupil  as  follows : 

The  first  elements  of  geography  were  taught  us  from  the  land 
itself.  We  were  first  taken  to  a  narrow  valley  not  far  from 
Yverdon,  where  the  river  Buron  runs.  After  taking  a  general 


1 84       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

view  of  the  valley,  we  were  made  to  examine  the  details,  until  we 
had  obtained  an  exact  and  complete  idea  of  it.  We  were  then 
told  to  take  some  of  the  clay  which  lay  in  beds  on  one  side  of 
the  valley  and  fill  the  baskets  which  we  had  brought  for  the 
purpose.  On  our  return  to  the  [school],  we  took  our  places  at 
the  long  tables  and  reproduced  in  relief  the  valley  we  had  just 
studied,  each  one  doing  the  part  that  had  been  allotted  to  him. 
In  the  course  of  the  next  few  days,  [occurred]  more  walks  and 
more  explorations,  each  day  on  higher  ground,  and  each  time 
with  a  further  extension  of  our  work.  Only  when  our  relief  was 
finished  were  we  shown  the  map,  which  by  this  means  we  did 
not  see  until  we  were  in  a  position  to  understand  it.  (8:  327) 


SAND-PAN   AS   AN    IMPORTANT   AID    IN    CLARIFYING    AND  VITALIZING 
GEOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 

The  seven  hills  of  Rome  made  by  fourth-grade  children  in  The  University  of  Chicago 

Elementary  School.    Note  the  two  walls,  the  river  Tiber,  and  Horatius  at  the  bridge. 

See  explanation,  below 

Story  of  the  above  picture.  —  This  picture  represents  an  excel- 
lent sand-table  project  worked  out  by  fourth-grade  pupils  who 
were  studying  Roman  history.  The  details  of  the  picture,  show- 
ing the  seven  hills  of  Rome,  the  two  walls,  the  river  Tiber,  and 
the  incident  of  Horatius  at  the  bridge  are  worthy  of  careful 
study.  For  a  complete  description  of  the  process  by  which  the 
class  carried  on  the  work,  see  the  article  by  the  teacher,  Miss 
Grace  Storm,  in  the  Elementary  School  Journal,  November,  1915, 
Vol.  XVI,  pp.  132-146.  For  a  similar  project  in  geography, 


BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES     185 

namely,  a  relief  and  products  map  of  the  United  States,  see 
Miss  Storm's  article  in  the  Elementary  School  Journal,  September, 
1914,  Vol.  XVI,  pp.  29-40. 

When  engaged  in  the  public  schools  of  a  small  town  in  Illinois, 
Miss  Storm  secured  the  pans  for  similar  projects  through  children 
who  procured  from  home  two  shallow,  galvanized-iron  pans  which 
had  been  used  under  automobiles  in  garages.  Two  cheap  low 
tables  were  then  procured,  and  the  two  pans,  placed  side  by  side, 
gave  ample  room  for  a  map  of  the  United  States. 

The  picture  illustrates  the  matter  of  schoolroom  equipment 
and  the  use  of  constructive  activities  as  well  as  the  appercep- 
tional  teaching  of  geography  as  described  on  pages  183-187. 


A    SAXON    SETTLEMENT   AS   A   SAND-PAN   CONSTRUCTION    PROJECT   IN 
FIFTH-GRADE  HISTORY 

From  The  University  of  Chicago  Elementary  School.   Compare  the  articles  by 
Miss  Grace  Storm  referred  to  above 

Inexpensive  sand-pan  makes  surface  features  vivid.  —  In 
well-equipped  schools  of  the  present  day  large  galvanized- 
iron  sand-pans  are  extensively  used  for  making  relief  models 
of  places  studied.  Pictures  of  such  models  made  by  the  chil- 
dren are  shown  above  and  on  page  186.  As  a  rule,  children 
work  in  committees  on  assigned  units,  such  as  the  Appa- 
lachian Mountains,  the  Great  Lakes,  the  Mississippi  River. 
The  careful  attention  to  the  geographic  realities  which  is 
required  of  children  in  such  an  exercise  will  readily  appear 
to  the  reader  if  she  will  try  to  model  the  Great  Lakes  in 
some  sand.  One  fourth-grade  child  who  was  doing  this  said, 


Jt  H 

W  cj 

!  I 

§  g 


U 


£  a!  w 

C  os  rt 

J.  i 

S  S5  - 


OGRAPHY 

ND-PANS  ] 

See  story 

H 

4 

C 

to 

h 

X 

O 

** 

O 
g 

H 
§ 

£ 

u 

w 

H 

SB 

o 

B 

e. 

u 

H 

PL, 

BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES     187 

"  Gee,  the  Great  Lakes  are  hard  to  put  in  ;  they  are  so 
z«-regular."  After  the  relief  of  the  United  States  is  com- 
pleted in  the  sand-table,  it  forms  a  vivid  link  in  helping  the 
children  to  understand  a  surface  map  done  in  colors ;  they 
readily  translate  the  dark  browns  of  the  map  into  the  high 
mountains  of  the  sand-table,  and  translate  the  latter  into  the 
pictures  of  mountains  with  which  the  study  began.  Such 
symbols — pictures,  sand-pan  relief,  and  colored  surface  maps 
—  carry  for  them  much  more  real  ideas  of  surface  forma- 
tions than  are  conveyed  by  the  mere  words  of  the  book  con- 
cerning elevations,  depressions,  mountain  systems,  and  river 
basins.  A  four-by-six-foot  galvanized-iron  pan  and  the  sand 
and  clay  which  make  possible  such  vivid  geographic  teaching 
can  easily  be  secured  at  small  cost  for  any  school.  In  one 
school,  in  which  reliefs  like  those  shown  on  pages  184-186 
were  worked  out  by  the  pupils,  the  latter  brought  two  pans  from 
private  garages  where  they  had  been  used  under  automobiles. 

Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page. — This  picture  shows  sixth- 
grade  children  engaged  in  solving  an  irrigation  problem  in  sand-pans 
during  the  geography  period.  In  the  large  pan  you  can  see  at  the 
left  a  ditch  which  represents  the  river.  To  the  right  of  the  river  is 
represented  land  which  is  considerably  higher  than  the  river.  The 
problem  was  to  irrigate  this  land  from  the  river  without  using  any 
mechanical  device  to  pump  or  lift  the  water  from  the  lower  course 
of  the  stream.  The  children  tried  building  dams  at  places  in  the 
upper  course  to  back  up  and  elevate  the  water.  They  then  con- 
structed across  country,  from  above  the  dam,  the  main  supply  ditch, 
keeping  it  on  high  ground  so  that  the  lateral  ditches  supplying  the 
farms  descended  toward  the  river.  The  picture  illustrates  the  use 
of  sand-pan  modeling  to  clarify  geographical  ideas  as  described  on 
page  185.  It  also  illustrates  training  in  problem  solving  and  con- 
struction as  well  as  the  utilization  of  children's  instinctive  interests 
in  manipulation,  problem  solving,  and  group  emulation.  The  latter 
appears  in  the  contest  to  see  which  of  the  several  teams  at  work 
on  the  problem  could  first  achieve  a  satisfactory  solution. 


1 88       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Specialized  teacher-training  makes  possible  skilled  apper- 
ceptional  teaching.  —  The  effective  use  of  modeling  as  a 
geographic  aid  requires  more  knowledge  and  training  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher  than  merely  hearing  recitations  of  memo- 
rized words.  This  is  true  of  all  skilled  teaching  which  prop- 
erly recognizes  the  principle  of  apperception  by  providing 
abundant  real  experiences  for  children  and  building  instruc- 
tion upon  these.  But,  as  indicated  in  the  introductory  chapter, 
many  normal  schools  now  provide  specialized  training  for 
teaching  in  primary  grades  and  middle  grades,  and  such 
training,  if  properly  conducted,  is  devoted  largely  to  giving 
students  a  knowledge  of  the  children,  subject  matter,  and 
methods  of  the  grades  in  which  they  expect  to  teach.  With 
such  full  specialized  training,  teachers  may  be  expected  to 
know  enough  themselves  about  realities  to  make  ideas  real 
to  children  and  to  secure  from  the  latter  mental  responses 
of  understanding  and  evaluation  instead  of  mere  words. 

Conclusion.  —  This  will  conclude  our  second  chapter  on 
the  learning  processes  of  pupils.  In  the  first  of  these  chap- 
ters we  noted  that  the  children  learn  through  their  self- 
activity,  through  their  own  mental  responses.  Hence  it 
becomes  important  for  the  teacher  to  be  skilled  in  inferring 
just  what  the  inner  responses  of  children  are  and  in  under- 
standing the  conditions  which  influence  these  responses.  In 
the  present  chapter  we  traced  the  influence  of  past  experi- 
ences on  present  responses.  In  the  next  chapter  we  shall 
trace  the  influence  of  the  pupil's  present  frame  of  mind. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  references  marked  with  an  asterisk  are  especially  recommended 
to  beginners. 

Child  study.  — i.  HALL,  G.  S.  Aspects  of  Child  Life.  (D.  Apple- 
ton  and  Company.)  Chap,  i,  pp.  1-52.  Printed  also  in  Pedagogical 
Seminary,  Vol.  I,  pp.  139-173.  Influential  study  of  "the  contents  of 
children's  minds  on  entering  school." 


BUILDING  ON  PUPILS'  PAST  EXPERIENCES     189 

2.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.  Notes  on  Child  Study.  (The  Macmillan 
Company,  1903.)  Pp.  57-62.  Effective  discussion  of  apperception; 
reports  Hall's  study  mentioned  above. 

Practical  advice.  —  3.  BACHMAN.  The  Quality  of  Instruction  versus 
the  Subject  Matter.  Elementary  School  Journal,  May,  1915,  Vol.  XV, 
pp.  491-497,  529-542.  Describes  prevalence  of  mechanical  memorizing 
in  schools  to-day. 

4.  EARHART,  L.  J.  Types  of  Teaching.  (Houghton  Mifflin  Com- 
pany, 1915.)  P.  102. 

*  5.  McMuRRY,  F.  and  C.  The  Method  of  the  Recitation.  (The 
Macmillan  Company,  1903.)  Pp.  74-93.  The  most  simple,  practical, 
helpful,  and  influential  discussion  of  apperception.  Should  be  read  by 
all  teachers. 

6.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.  Principles  of  Teaching,  (A.  G.  Seiler,  1906.) 
Pp.   42-50.     Many  excellent  exercises   for  discussions   in    classes   of 
teachers. 

7.  TEMPLE,  ALICE.   Survey  of  the  Kindergartens  of  Richmond, 
Indiana.   (The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1917.)    Pp.  29,  43. 

Historical.  —  *  8.  PARKER,  S.  C.  History  of  Modern  Elementary 
Education.  (Ginn  and  Company,  1912.)  Pp.  188-207,  on  Rousseau's 
program  for  real  experiences  for  children;  pp.  323-356,  on  Pestalozzi's 
organization  of  improved  methods  in  object  teaching,  home  geography, 
arithmetic,  based  on  real  experiences;  pp.  359-364,  on  degenerated 
Pestalozzian  methods;  pp.  439-441,  457-460,  on  Froebelian  misunder- 
standing of  children's  capacities  and  ideas. 

Stories  about  children. — *g.  KELLY,  MYRA.  Little  Citizens,  the 
Humors  of  School  Life.  (Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  1904.)  Fascinating 
stories  of  New  York  slum  children. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PUTTING  PUPILS  IN  A  FAVORABLE  FRAME  OF  MIND 
THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PREPARATION 

Main  points  of  the  chapter.  —  i .  A  pupil's  response  or  reaction 
in  any  situation  is  largely  influenced  by  his  general  frame  of  mind. 

2.  Striking  examples  occur  in  the  very  irrelevant  answers  which 
a  pupil  gives  to  questions  even  when  he  knows  the  correct  answers. 

3.  Consequently  the  teacher  should  put  the  pupil  in  the  proper 
frame  of  mind 

a.  by  arousing  the  general  line  of  thought  which  she  desires 
him  to  pursue,  and 

b.  by  arousing  favorable  emotional  attitudes,  such  as  curiosity 
and  interest. 

Three  principles  of  teaching :  self-activity,  apperception, 
preparation. — This  chapter  introduces  the  third  general  fact 
concerning  the  learning  processes  of  children.  The  first 
fact,  discussed  in  Chapter  VI,  is  that  children  learn  through 
their  own  responses,  reactions,  or  behavior ;  hence  teachers 
must  be  skilled  in  determining  whether  the  educative  re- 
sponses which  they  desire  have  actually  been  made  by  the 
pupils.  This  we  called  the  doctrine  of  self -activity.  To  secure 
in  pupils  specific  mental  responses,  the  teacher  must  under- 
stand the  conditions  which  influence  these  responses.  Our 
second  general  fact  about  learning  appeared  in  this  connec- 
tion in  Chapter  VII,  namely,  that  a  pupil's  response  is 
influenced  by  his  past  experiences ;  hence  the  teacher  must 
understand  each  pupil's  past  experiences  and  build  upon 
these.  This  we  called  the  doctrine  of  apperception.  The 
third  principle  of  learning  will  be  discussed  in  this  chapter, 

190 


A  FAVORABLE  FRAME  OF  MIND  191 

namely,  that  a  pupil's  response  is  also  influenced  by  his 
present  frame  of  mind  ;  hence  the  teacher  should  take  steps 
to  put  him  in  a  frame  of  mind  conducive  to  the  responses 
which  she  desires ;  she  should  prepare  his  mind,  set  his 
mental  stage,  as  it  were,  for  the  mental  action  that  is  to 
follow.  This  we  call  the  doctrine  of  preparation. 

Examples  of  influence  of  mental  backgrounds ;  the  word 
"bay"  again.  —  As  an  example  of  the  influence  of  a  per- 
son's general  frame  .of  mind  in  determining  his  mental  re- 
sponse, we  may  use  again  the  varied  interpretations  of  the 
word  "bay."  In  reading  the  sentence  "Pupils  in  geography 
learn  to  define  river,  lake,  gulf,  bay,  etc.,"  almost  any  per- 
son would  think  of  the  geographic  meaning  of  "  bay"  instead 
of  thinking  of  a  bay  horse  or  a  bay  window  or  the  bay  leaf 
used  in  seasoning.  This  similarity  of  response  or  interpreta- 
tion is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  earlier  suggestions  in  the 
sentence  have  put  the  reader  in  the  geographic  frame  of 
mind.  The  similarity  in  the  responses  may  thus  be  con- 
trasted with  the  variety  of  responses  noted  on  page  169, 
where  the  same  word  "  bay "  was  presented  without  pre- 
liminary preparation  of  a  mental  background. 

Mistake  in  reading  caused  by  wrong  background. —  An- 
other example  of  the  influence  of  a  person's  frame  of  mind 
in  determining  his  response  to  a  situation  is  found  in  the 
following  incident  from  my  own  experience : 

I  was  riding  in  a  train  and  happened  to  look  over  the  shoulder 
of  the  man  in  front  of  me  at  the  newspaper  he  was  reading.  I 
could  just  see  the  top  of  the  paper  and  read  there  the  following 
large  headline,  extending  clear  across  the  page : 

GOOD  HATS  A  QUARTER 

Inasmuch  as  I  always  take  advantage  of  end-of-the-season  reduc- 
tion sales  of  men's  furnishings,  this  statement  interested  me 
(although  good  hats  for  a  quarter  seemed  impossible)  and  I  decided 
to  look  into  the  matter  further  when  I  got  a  chance.  Soon  the 


192        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

man  left  his  seat  to  go  into  the  smoking  car.  I  picked  up  his  paper 
and,  turning  to  the  desired  page,  found  that  instead  of  reading 

GOOD  HATS  A  QUARTER 
the  headline  read 

GOD  HATES  A  QUITTER 

It  was  Monday  morning  and  the  paper  in  question  contained  re- 
ports of  Sunday  sermons  printed  with  large-type  headlines  running 
clear  across  the  page.  If  I  had  been  in  the  religious  frame  of  mind 
at  the  time,  instead  of  the  bargain-hunting  frame  of  mind,  I  might 
have  read  the  headline  correctly  at  the  first  glance. 

Colorless  sentence  given  varied  meanings  by  different 
backgrounds.  —  Further  examples  of  the  great  variety  of 
mental  responses  which  may  be  aroused  by  the  same  words 
being  projected  against  different  mental  backgrounds  are 
given  by  Adams  in  the  following  quotation  : 

Take  some  such  colorless  sentence  as  "  Think  of  him,"  and 
note  the  difference  effected  by  projecting  it  against  the  following 
backgrounds : 

A  picture  in  Life  of  a  low-class  photographer  trying  to  encourage 
a  pleasant  expression  on  his  female  sitter's  face.  [Think  of  him.'] 

A  widow  laying  flowers  on  a  grave  and  addressing  her  little  girl. 
[Think  of  him.'] 

A  religious  revival  meeting.    [Think  of  HimJ] 

A  French  schoolmaster  during  the  Franco-Prussian  War  point- 
ing to  a  picture  of  the  first  Napoleon.  [Think  of  him.'] 

A  conspirators'  meeting  where  a  traitor's  name  has  been  men- 
tioned. [Oooo  1  think  of  him  !]  (1 :  93) 

Pupils'  irrelevant  answers  illustrate  influence  of  wrong 
line  of  thought.  —  In  school  we  find  many  examples  of 
the  influence  of  mental  backgrounds  in  producing  varied 
responses  by  pupils.  These  examples  often  occur  in  the 
unexpected  answers  in  response  to  a  question  that  was 
intended  to  elicit  an  entirely  different  line  of  thought,  as 
illustrated  by  Adams  in  the  following  quotation : 


A  FAVORABLE  FRAME  OF  MIND  193 

A  question  is  asked,  for  example,  the  answer  to  which  is  known 
to  be  within  the  range  of  the  pupil's  knowledge.  There  is  no  doubt 
about  the  matter.  .  .  .  The  question  is,  however,  so  expressed  that 
the  pupil,  with  the  best  intention  in  the  world,  cannot  discover 
against  which  background  he  is  expected  to  project  the  ideas 
concerned.  Accordingly  he  projects  them  against  the  first  available 
background,  in  the  hope  that  this  may  be  the  right  one. 

"  Where  was  St.  Paul  converted  ? "  asks  the  teacher,  speaking 
from  a  geographical  background.  "In  the  ninth  chapter  of  the 
Acts,"  responds  the  pupil,  from  a  background  of  textual  reference. 
In  testing  the  intelligence  of  a  class  the  inspector  asks,  "  Where 
do  you  find  gates  ? "  The  pupil,  from  a  background  made  up  of 
puzzling  experiences  of  the  Socratic  method,  answers,  "  We  don't 
find  gates,  we  make  them."  From  a  historico-geographical  back- 
ground the  inspector  desired  to  elicit  the  deleterious  effect  of  a 
large  town  on  the  purity  of  a  river.  He  brought  out  the  fact  that 
Robert  the  Bruce  [1274-1329]  spent  his  latter  years  at  Roseneath 
on  the  Clyde  in  Scotland,  and  that  as  a  recreation  he  very 
probably  —  according  to  the  inspector  —  fished  in  the  river.  The 
question  that  was  to  incriminate  those  who  were  responsible  for  the 
pollution  of  the  Clyde  took  the  form  "  Why  could  n't  the  Bruce 
fish  there  now  ? "  From  a  background  of  plain  common  sense 
came  the  reply,  "  Because  he's  dead."  (1:  96) 

Absurd  answers  in  written  tests  shcnv  predominance  of 
wrong  set  of  mind,  —  Perhaps  the  strangest  examples  of  the 
predominant  influence  of  some  special  frame  of  mind  or 
mental  background  in  determining  the  mental  responses  of 
a  pupil  are  found  in  the  wrong  answers  in  written  exami- 
nations. In  such  cases  the  teacher  often  marvels  at  the 
absurdly  irrelevant  responses  that  the  pupils  make.  Strik- 
ing illustrations  of  such  absurd  answers  were  secured  by 
Thorndike  (5  :  98)  when  he  gave  a  reading  test  to  chil- 
dren in  the  upper  grades.  A  portion  of  the  test  read 
as  follows  : 

Read  this  and  then  write  the  answers  to  i,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  and  8. 
Read  it  again  as  often  as  you  need  to. 


ic>4     TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Tom  gave  a  gray  cat  to  Mary.    She  gave  him  a  black  dog. 

1 .  What  did  Tom  give  the  girl  ? 

2.  What  did  the  girl  give  Tom  ? 

3.  What  was  the  girl's  name  ? 

(Five  similar  questions  completed  the  eight.) 

In  writing  his  answers,  one  pupil  was  evidently  strongly 
itifluenced  by  a  recent  written  lesson  in  substituting  pro- 
nouns for  nouns.  Hence,  instead  of  answering  the  questions 
he  merely  copied  them,  but  substituted  pronouns,  thus  : 

1.  What  did  he  give  the  girl  ? 

2.  What  did  the  girl  give  ? 

3.  What  was  her  name  ? 

The  reader  may  be  interested  in  guessing  what  mental 
background  was  predominant  in  the  case  of  the  pupil  who, 
instead  of  answering  the  questions,  merely  copied  them,  but 
followed  each  with  certain  phrases  as  indicated  below : 

1.  "  What  did  Tom  give  the  girl  ?  "  said  Mary. 

2.  "  What  did  the  girl  give  Tom  ?  "  asked  her  sister. 

3.  "  What  was  the  girl's  name  ?  "  said  her  mother. 

Cross  section  of  pupil 's  mental  responses  would  reveal 
strange  contrasts.  —  The  strangely  irrelevant  responses 
which  appear  in  pupils'  written  papers  are  instructive  in 
suggesting  that  equally  irrelevant  and  confused  mental 
responses  must  be  taking  place  during  oral  recitations.  If 
a  teacher  could  get  a  cross-section  view  of  the  mental  re- 
sponses being  made  by  her  pupils  at  any  moment,  it  might 
surprise  her  with  its  weird  and  strange  contrasts. 

Teacher  must  put  pupils  in  favorable  frame  of  mind ; 
must  prepare  mental  backgrounds.  —  The  educational  in- 
ference which  is  drawn  from  the  above  facts  is  that  a  teacher 
should  take  special  care  to  put  the  pupils  in  the  proper  frame 
of  mind  for  the  lines  of  thought  which  she  desires  them  to 
pursue ;  she  should  set  the  mental  stages  for  the  mental 


A  FAVORABLE  FRAME  OF  MIND  195 

action  that  is  to  follow  ;  she  should  arrange  the  mental  back- 
grounds upon  which  her  statements  and  questions  will  fall. 
Steps  to  do  this  may  vary  from  a  few  simple  remarks  at 
the  beginning  of  a  lesson  to  very  elaborate  precautions  con- 
suming a  whole  lesson  period  in  preparation  for  lessons 
that  are  to  follow. 

Examples  of  step  of  preparation. — The  following  examples 
are  illustrations  of  such  preparatory  steps  taken  by  teachers. 

1.  A  second-grade  class  was  reading  "Cinderella."    At 
the  beginning  of  the  period  the  teacher  reviewed  the  story 
as  far  as  they  had  read.    She  then  said  :  "  Let  us  each  take 
some  character  and  read  its  part.    Where  no  character  is 
required,  I  will  read.    Let 's  see  if  we  can  finish  the  story 
to-day."    At  the  end  of  the  period  the  children  begged  to 
remain  a  few  minutes  after  the  recess  bell  rang,  in  order 
to  finish  the  story. 

2.  A  third-grade  class  in  Chicago  was  studying  the  water 
supply  of  the  city.    They  were  ready  to  discuss  the  laying 
of  a  pipe  line  out  into  Lake  Michigan.    At  the  beginning 
of  the  period  the  teacher  had  the  class  recall  the  earlier 
methods  used  to  secure  water ;  namely,  dipping  water  out  of 
the  lake,  digging  wells,  using  water  wagons,  etc. 

3.  In  a  fourth-grade  class  the  topic  for  the  period  was  the 
Roman  soldiers.    Before  taking  it  up  the  children  talked 
about  the  American  soldiers,  their  needs,  the  fact  that  they 
were  having  measles,  the  Red  Cross  work  which  the  children 
were  doing,  the  gathering  of  magazines  for  the  soldiers,  etc. 

4.  A  fifth-grade  class  was  studying  "Robin  Hood."    They 
were  outlining  the  action  of  the  story  preparatory  to  drama- 
tizing it.    The  teacher  said :  "  To-day  we  want  to  continue 
the  story  from  where  we  left  off,  picking  out  the  important 
points  to  put  in  your  notebooks.    Let  us  first  review  the 
points  which  you  already  have  in  your  books." 

5.  An  upper-grade  class  was  beginning  the  study  of  the 
surveying  of  the  Northwest  Territory.    In  this  connection 


196       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

they  recalled  their  previous  study  of  surveys  in  Kentucky, 
the  work  of  Daniel  Boone,  the  tomahawking  of  trees  for 
landmarks  with  the  resulting  overlapping  of  claims  which 
led  to  feuds,  the  more  accurate  methods  of  surveying  into 
townships,  sections,  quarter-sections,  etc.  In  spite  of  this 
careful  preparation,  however,  an  observer  noticed  one  girl 
turn  to  a  boy  and  ask  in  a  whisper,  "  What  is  a  survey  ? " 
The  boy  said  he  did  n't  know.  The  teacher,  being  una- 
ware of  their  ignorance,  did  not  ask  for  any  explanation 
of  the  word. 

6.  Very  elaborate  examples  of  the  preparatory  step  are 
found  in  certain  primary  reading  lessons.  For .  instance,  in 
one  system  the  first  material  read  by  the  children  in  the  first 
grade  is  the  rime 

Seesaw !  Seesaw ! 

Here  we  go  up  and  down. 
Seesaw  I  Seesaw ! 

This  is  the  way  to  town. 

Before  the  actual  reading  is  begun,  two  preparatory 
lessons  on  the  rime  are  given  as  follows :  In  the  first 
lesson  the  pupils  are  shown  a  picture  of  a  little  boy  and  girl 
playing  seesaw,  or  teeter-totter.  The  pupils  talk  about  having 
played  the  game  and  imitate  it  by  swaying  their  arms  up 
and  down.  In  the  next  lesson  they  memorize  the  rime 
exactly  and  play  a  little  kindergarten  game  with  it.  Finally, 
in  the  third  lesson,  the  teacher  writes  the  rime  on  the 
board.  Before  writing  the  first  line  she  says,  "What  shall 
I  write  first?"  The  children  tell  her  to  write  "Seesaw! 
Seesaw !  "  Thus  the  pupils'  first  reading  lesson  is  prepared 
for  in  such  a  skillful  way  that  they  have  the  full  meaning 
in  mind  before  the  symbols  are  presented,  and  they  are 
intensely  interested  in  telling  the  teacher  what  to  write. 
Thus  they  are  prepared  to  read  it  as  an  interesting  and 
meaningful  whole. 


A  FAVORABLE  FRAME  OF  MIND  197 

Recall  related  ideas  ;  state  aim  of  lesson.  —  Most  of  the 
above  examples  illustrate,  as  a  part  of  the  step  of  prepara- 
tion, the  practice  of  recalling  the  general  field  of  ideas  in 
which  the  pupils  are  to  do  their  thinking.  This  recalling 
may  be  done  by  (i)  a  review  of  related  matters  previously 
studied,  and  (2)  a  statement  of  the  general  topic  or  problem 
or  project  or  plan  for  the  new  period.  Such  a  statement  of 
the  general  plan  or  aim  of  the  lesson  not  only  helps  to 
arouse  in  the  pupil  the  appropriate  lines  of  thought,  but  also 
enables  him  to  cooperate  with  the  teacher  in  carrying  out 
the  plan  or  attaining  the  aim  of  the  lesson. 

Make  transitions  clear ;  reviews,  relational  phrases,  out- 
lines. —  The  above  rules  concerning  reviews  and  statements 
of  plans  apply  not  only  at  the  beginning  of  the  period  but 
also  at  the  transitions  from  one  phase  of  the  lesson  to 
another.  Unless  the  pupils  are  made  aware  of  the  transition 
or  change,  their  thoughts  may  continue  to  run  along  the 
old  line.  In  this  textbook  the  author  has  endeavored  to 
help  the  reader  over  the  transitions  by  means  of  reviews  and 
transitional  sentences.  Even  single  words  or  phrases  such 
as  "however,"  "nevertheless,"  "on  the  other  hand,"  are 
important  devices  to  use  in  writing  or  teaching  in  order  to 
put  the  pupils  in  the  transitional  frame  of  mind  which  is 
desired.  Building  an  outline  on  the  blackboard  as  the  lesson 
progresses  and  referring  frequently  to  it  also  serve  to  keep 
pupils'  minds  directed  along  the  right  lines. 

Creating  favorable  mental  attitudes  ;  curiosity  aroused  by 
problems.  —  The  examples  on  pages  195-196  also  illustrate 
the  creation  of  certain  favorable  attitudes  of  mind  as  well  as 
the  recalling  of  a  field  of  ideas  or  line  of  thought  as  dis- 
cussed above.  Among  the  mental  attitudes  of  pupils  which 
are  especially  favorable  in  teaching  are  expectation  and  curi- 
osity. The  latter  is  particularly  helpful  when  it  includes  a 
puzzle  or  perplexity  or  problem  which  interests  the  pupils 
and  leads  them  to  strive  to  find  the  solution, 


198       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Interesting  curious  example  often  used  to  introduce  larger 
problems.  —  Very  often  the  best  preparation  for  the  study 
of  large  problems  is  through  the  discussion  of  some  minor 
problem  of  more  immediate  interest.  Adams  gives  the 
following  example  : 

Instead  of  starting  straightway  with  the  subject  of  the  difference 
between  the  development  of  the  feudal  system  in  England  and  in 
France,  the  problem  might  be  suggested,  Why  are  there  hedgerows 
in  England  and  not  in  France  ?  In  answering  this  interesting  ques- 
tion, all  the  essential  points  of  difference  emerge,  and  the  incentive 
of  a  well-defined  purpose  is  maintained  throughout  the  lesson. 
(1:  181-182) 

Playful  attitudes  and  pleasant  suggestions  prepare  for 
enjoyment.  —  There  are  many  kinds  of  teaching,  however, 
which  do  not  involve  problem  solving.  The  most  evident  of 
these  occur  in  teaching  the  enjoyment  of  stories,  poems, 
pictures,  songs,  etc.  The  art  of  the  preparatory  steps  here 
consists  in  creating  a  certain  general  emotional  background 
which  we  may  call  "  playful,"  and  recalling  certain  trains  of 
thought  which  contain  happy  suggestions  to  be  used  in 
enjoying  the  new  story,  or  poem,  or  picture. 

Attitude  of  interest  of  great  importance ;  next  chapter.  — 
The  arousing  of  such  general  mental  attitudes  as  we  have 
been  discussing,  namely,  expectancy,  curiosity,  playfulness, 
etc.,  constitutes  one  of  the  largest  problems  in  the  practical 
art  of  teaching.  It  may  be  called  the  general  problem 
of  securing  interest  and  concentrated  attention  on  the  part 
of  the  pupils.  Interest  exerts  such  a  large  influence  in 
determining  how  effectively  pupils  learn,  that  we  shall 
devote  all  of  the  next  chapter  to  a  discussion  of  it  as  the 
basis  of  economy  in  learning.  Before  turning  to  the  next 
chapter,  however,  the  reader  may  review  with  profit  the 
summary  of  the  present  and  preceding  chapters  as  given 
on  page  190. 


A  FAVORABLE  FRAME  OF  MIND  199 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  references  marked  with  an  asterisk  are  especially  recommended 
to  beginners. 

*  i.  ADAMS,    JOHN.     Exposition    and   Illustration    in    Teaching. 
(The   Macmillan  Company,   1910.)    Pp.  91-144,   167-186.    Excellent 
reference.    Many  practical  illustrations.    Interesting  style. 

*  2.  CHARTERS,  VV.  W.    Methods  of  Teaching.   (Row,  Peterson  & 
Co.,  revised  edition,  1912.)    Critical  discussion  of  step  of  preparation, 
pp.  322-329.    Use  of  reviews  to  put  pupil  in  proper  frame  of  mind, 

PP-  355-364- 

3.  DEWEY,  JOHN.  How  We  Think.  (D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  1910.) 
Important  critical  reference  on  statement  of  aim,  pp.  201-208. 

*  4.  McMuRRY,  F.  and  C.     The  Method  of  the  Recitation.    (The 
Macmillan   Company,    1903.)    Pp.   83-117.    Elaborate   discussion  of 
preparation  and  of  characteristics  of  a  good  aim.    Easy  and  practical. 

5.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.  The  Understanding  of  Sentences;  a  Study 
of  Errors  in  Reading.  Elementary  School  Journal,  October,  1917, 
Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  98-1 14.  Results  of  experimental  tests  which  illustrate 
"  prepotency  "  of  certain  words  or  ideas  or  backgrounds  in  determining 
responses  of  pupils. 


CHAPTER  IX 

INTERESTS;  THE  BASIS  OF  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING 

Main  points  of  the  chapter i.  An  attitude  of  interest  or 

attention  is  favorable  to  learning. 

2.  The  use  of  interesting  adventure  stories  in  teaching  reading 
and  history  illustrates  utilizing  children's  active  interests  as  an  aid 
in  teaching. 

3.  Such  utilization   of   children's   interests   is   a   cold-blooded 
business  proposition,  not  a  matter  of  sentiment. 

4.  The  spontaneous  attention  which  is  thus  secured  is  more 
favorable  than  forced  attention. 

5.  Sugar-coating  uninteresting  material  in  order  to  secure  spon- 
taneous attention  is  often  justified  if  the  attention  is  not  misdirected. 

6.  In  utilizing  any  inborn    interest  of  pupils,   teachers  must 
consider  not  only  its  effectiveness  in  securing  attention  but  also  its 
value  in  the  lives  of  persons  generally  and  in  molding  the  character 
of  the  pupil. 

7.  For  a  long  time,  fear  of  physical  pain,  fear  of  sarcasm  and 
ridicule,  and  rivalry  for  marks  or  prizes  were  the  chief  instinctive 
interests  appealed  to  by  teachers. 

8.  Recent  improved  school  practice  tends  to  rely  on  the  follow- 
ing instinctive  interests : 

a.  Interest  in  adventure  and  romance. 

b.  Interest  in  actions  of  people  and  animals. 

c.  Desire  for  social  approval. 

d.  Interest  in  rhythm,  rime,  jingle,  and  song. 

e.  Curiosity,  wonder,  puzzle  interest,  problem  interest,  mental 
activity. 

f.  Interest  in  expression  and  communication. 

g.  Manipulation  and  general  physical  activity. 
h.  Collecting  instinct. 

i.  Imitative  play. 
j.  Interest  in  games. 

2OC 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     2OI 

9.  As  a  result  of  utilizing  these  interests  of  children,  the  latter 
learn  economically  to  work  effectively  and  to  enjoy  even  difficult 
serious  tasks. 

Interest  is  a  helpful  mental  attitude  in  learning.  —  In 

our  discussions  of  learning  processes  we  have  emphasized 
the  fact  that  a  pupil  learns  through  his  own  responses  and 
that  the  latter  are  influenced  in  any  situation  by  the  pupil's 
past  experience  and  present  frame  of  mind.  At  the  end  of 
the  preceding  chapter  we  showed  that  the  present  frame  of 
mind  included  not  only  certain  fields  of  ideas  or  lines 
of  thought  but  also  certain  mental  attitudes,  such  as 
expectancy,  curiosity,  playfulness,  etc.  The  words  "interest" 
and  "attention"  are  used  to  designate  certain  of  these  mental 
attitudes  which  are  considered  particularly  helpful  in  getting 
pupils  to  make  certain  specific  responses ;  that  is,  in  directing 
their  self-activity  along  definite  educative  lines. 

Illustrated  by  use  of  interest  in  adventure  in  teaching 
reading.  —  To  illustrate  the  importance  of  the  attitude  of 
interest  as  an  aid  in  educating  pupils,  consider  which  of  the 
following  selections  taken  by  Thorndike  from  actual  school 
readers  you  would  prefer  to  use  in  teaching  primary  children 
to  read.  The  first  selection,  from  a  second  reader  published 
in  1878,  runs  as  follows: 

FOODS 

We  must  never  forget  that  we  do  not  live  to  eat,  but  that  we 
eat  to  live. 

Our  food  is  the  flesh  of  beasts,  birds,  and  fish,  and  the  fruits  of 
the  earth. 

Beef  is  the  flesh  of  the  ox,  pork  is  the  flesh  of  the  pig,  and 
mutton  is  the  flesh  of  the  sheep. 

Apples  grow  on  trees,  and  grapes  grow  on  vines.  Turnips  and 
beets  grow  in  the  ground.  ...  (6  :  67) 

Can  you  imagine  a  second-grade  pupil  getting  up  much 
enthusiasm  about  the  above  passage  ?  Can  you  imagine  him 
reading  it  voluntarily  time  and  again  and  hungrily  asking 


202        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

the  teacher  for  more  stories  about  food  ?  The  next  selec- 
tion, from  a  second  reader  published  in  1897,  accompanies 
a  picture  of  Longfellow,  and  runs  as  follows : 

MR.  LONGFELLOW 

This  is  a  picture  of  Mr.  Longfellow. 

He  was  the  boy  who  lived  near  the  sea. 

He  is  an  old  gentleman  in  this  picture.  .  .  . 

He  was  a  poet. 

A  poet  has  beautiful  thoughts. 

He  writes  them  for  others  to  read.  .  .  . 

When  he  was  a  boy  he  went  to  school. 

Then  he  went  to  Bowdoin  College.  .  .  . 

He  then  went  across  the  ocean.  .  .  . 

When  he  came  back  he  was  a  teacher  in  Bowdoin  College.  (6 :  64) 

You  can  easily  see  that  this  selection  would  .have  more 
attraction  for  seven-year-olds  than  the  paragraph  about  foods. 
The  picture  of  Longfellow  would  excite  some  momentary 
interest,  but  what  of  the  sentences  that  follow  ?  Our  study 
of  apperception  revealed  no  more  ill-adapted  material  than 
discussions  of  Bowdoin  College  for  seven-year-olds.  Most 
children  would  certainly  not  be  attentive  to  such  material 
unless  they  were  forced  to  be.  Contrast  now  the  following 
"  thriller  "  from  a  third  reader  published  in  the  same  year 
as  the  story  of  Mr.  Longfellow  : 

KING  TAWNY  MANE 

There  was  once  a  lion  whose  name  was  Tawny  Mane.  He  was 
so  strong  that  all  the  other  animals  were  afraid  of  him,  so  he  was 
called  the  king  of  the  forest.  He  liked  to  kill  every  animal  that 
came  in  his  way,  and  there  was  no  living  thing  in  all  the  land  that 
was  safe  from  him. 

At  last,  one  day,  all  the  animals  met  to  talk  about  their  troubles, 
and  see  if  they  could  not  find  some  plan  to  save  themselves  from 
King  Tawny  Mane.  They  talked  a  long  time,  and  then  agreed 
what  to  do. 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     203 

In  the  evening  they  went  together  to  the  lion's  de.n.  King 
Tawny  Mane  had  just  had  a  full  meal,  so  he  did  not  try  to  harm 
any  of  them.  "  What  do  you  want  here  ? "  he  roared. 

This  frightened  them  very  much.  Some  of  them  ran  back  into 
the  thick  woods.  But  the  bravest  stood  still.  "  Speak  and  tell  me 
what  you  want,"  said  the  king. 

Then  Sharp  Ears,  the  fox,  stood  up  and  spoke.    (6  :  65) 

Can  you  imagine  an  ordinary  child  who  would  not  be 
anxious  to  read  on  and  find  out  what  Sharp  Ears  said 
about  the  plan  to  send  one  animal  each  day  to  appease  the 
king's  hunger  ?  Perhaps  even  you  would  like  to  know  the 
adventure  of  little  Cotton  Tail  which  comes  in  the  story 
after  the  following  paragraphs  : 

At  last  the  lot  fell  upon  a  little  rabbit  named  Cotton  Tail,  and 
he  was  sent  to  make  a  call  upon  the  king.  He  was  in  no  hurry 
to  go.  He  played  along  the  road  until  after  dinner  time.  Then, 
with  big  eyes  and  gentle  steps,  he  went  and  stood  at  the  lion's  door. 

King  Tawny  Mane  was  very  hungry,  and  when  he  saw  the 
rabbit  he  roared,  "  Why  are  you  so  late  ?  Even  the  elephant 
knows  better  than  to  keep  me  waiting." 

The  rabbit  bowed  low  and  said,  "  I  know  I  am  late.  But  if  you 
could  only  see  what  I  have  seen,  you  would  not  blame  me." 

"  What  have  you  seen  ?  "  said  the  lion.    (6  :  66) 

Interest  in  adventure  prominent  in  social  life ;  its  use  is 
effective  in  teaching  reading.  —  The  interest  which  would 
carry  a  child  or  an  adult  through  the  above  story  is  the 
same  interest  that  made  Homer's  stories  of  the  wanderings 
of  Ulysses  so  popular  with  the  Greeks  and  that  now  gives 
a  popular  journal  a  circulation  of  millions  of  copies  each 
week.  It  is  one  of  the  strongest  interests  born  in  human 
beings ;  namely,  the  interest  in  adventure,  in  excitement,  in 
romance.  When  coupled  with  the  courageous  and  fighting 
instincts  it  carries  thousands  of  red-blooded  persons  to  all 
ends  of  the  earth  in  search  of  new  and  thrilling  experiences. 
At  the  same  time  it  impels  many  of  the  most  timid  and 


204       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

peace-loving  to  sit  in  their  comfortable  homes  or  at  the 
movies,  and  thrill  over  the  deeds  of  detectives  and  crooks, 
cowboys  and  hunters,  soldiers  and  sailors,  knights  and  their 
ladies.  Obviously,  we  save  much  time  and  energy  in  teach- 
ing children  to  read  if  we  can  use  this  interest  to  keep  them 
attentive  during  the  reading  period  and  to  get  them  to 
read  voluntarily  out  of  school  hours.  Consequently  many 
adventure  stories  are  now  read  in  the  elementary  school, 
from  "  The  Three  Billy  Goats  Gruff "  in  the  first  grade 
to  "Treasure  Island"  in  the  upper  grades. 

Adventure  interest  also  effectively  tised  in  history  teach- 
ing. —  The  interest  in  adventure  and  romance  may  be  used 
with  equal  effectiveness  in  teaching  history.  This  may  be 
illustrated  by  two  examples.  In  a  large  city  a  young  but 
well-trained  teacher  was  having  difficulty  with  a  fifth-grade 
class,  all  of  poor  foreign  parentage,  in  getting  them  inter- 
ested in  English  history.  She  made  a  trip  to  the  superin- 
tendent's office  and  secured  a  set  of  supplementary  historical 
readers  which  contained  tales  of  adventure.  The  children 
immediately  became  interested ;  the  books  were  read  in  school 
and  out.  The  appeal  made  by  the  stories  was  well  illustrated 
by  the  remark  of  one  child  who  called  across  the  room  to 
a  companion,  "Say,  Joe,  wasn't  Richard  a  peach  of  a  guy?" 

The  second  example  of  the  utilization  of  the  adventure 
interest  in  teaching  history  is  from  the  middle  grades  in  The 
University  of  Chicago  Elementary  School,  which  possesses 
an  excellent  library  of  children's  literature  and  supple- 
mentary reading  material,  to  which  the  children  have  free 
access.  In  connection  with  the  work  in  history,  some  of 
the  children  read  very  widely ;  for  example,  my  own  boy, 
now  in  the  fifth  grade,  reads  about  three  hundred  pages  each 
week-end.  The  books  read,  vary  from  the  cheap  but  excel- 
lent publications  of  the  textbook  companies  to  the  beautiful 
but  more  expensive  books  by  the  English  writer  H..E, 
Marshall,  entitled  "  Our  Island  Story,"  "  Scotland's  Story," 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     205 

'The  History  of  France,"  and  "This  Country  of  Ours: 
the  Story  of  the  United  States."  I  have  been  interested 
in  noting  what  parts  my  son  reads  and  what  parts  he  omits. 
He  likes  certain  books,  he  says,  because  they  are  full  of 
battles,  and  fights  with  Indians,  and  travel  and  adventures 
generally.  Other  books  he  will  bring  home  from  the  library 
and  return  without  reading  them,  because  they  lack  the 
above  elements.  During  my  own  boyhood,  in  the  middle 
grades,  I  read  five-cent  novels  and  such  books  as  "  Ragged 
Dick  "  and  "  Frank  on  the  Gunboat,"  to  satisfy  my  craving 
for  adventure  stories.  Obviously,  when  the  school  can  divert 
some  of  the  energy  that  ordinarily  goes  into  such  reading 
into  historical  reading,  it  is  achieving  important  educational 
ends  at  small  cost. 

Utilizing  children's  interests  is  a  business  proposition,  not 
a  matter  of  sentiment.  —  The  use  of  the  strong  instinctive 
interest  in  adventure  as  the  basis  for  the  effective  teaching 
of  reading  and  history  in  the  primary  and  middle  grades 
illustrates  a  number  of  general  points  concerning  the  utiliza- 
tion of  children's  active  interests  by  teachers.  The  first  point 
is  that  such  utilization  is  a  purely  utilitarian,  cold-blooded 
business  proposition.  There  is  nothing  sentimental  about  it, 
any  more  than  it  would  be  considered  a  matter  of  sentiment 
for  a  traveling  salesman  to  try  to  sell  an  improved  adding 
machine  to  a  business  man  by  appealing  to  the  man's  interest 
in  securing  speed,  economy,  and  accuracy  in  his  bookkeep- 
ing. In  the  selling  of  most  kinds  of  goods  the  salesman 
can  assume,  on  the  part  of  the  prospective  buyer,  the  exist- 
ence of  certain  active  interests  which  are  an  essential  part 
of  the  latter's  business  activity.  The  salesman  builds  upon 
these  in  the  same  way  that  the  teacher  ought  to  build  upon 
the  active  interests  of  pupils.  The  teacher  does  not  have  to 
create  the  interest  in  adventure ;  it  already  exists.  It  is  an 
active  tendency  of  children  which  daily  manifests  itself  in 
their  plays  and  games  and  stories  and  reading.  The  teacher 


206        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

merely  utilizes  it  and  builds  upon  it  to  teach  two  of  the  most 
important  subjects  in  school ;  namely,  reading  and  history. 

Children's  interests  call  forth  spontaneous  attention  in 
contrast  with  old-fashioned  forced  attention.  —  The  practice 
of  utilizing  the  existing  interests  of  children  as  a  means  of 
securing  their  attention  to  school  work  may  be  contrasted 
with  the  older  practice  of  merely  demanding  attention  of 
children  to  material  in  which  they  have  no  natural  sponta- 
neous interest.  This  contrast  may  be  used  to  denote  two 
kinds  of  attention  which  teachers  may  secure ;  namely, 
forced  attention  and  spontaneous  attention.  The  devices  used 
by  teachers  in  securing  forced  attention  included  threats, 
demerits,  rapping  on  the  table,  scolding,  rewards,  etc.  Spon- 
taneous attention,  on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  come  of 
itself,  as  illustrated  above  by  the  spontaneous  interest  in 
the  story  of  King  Tawny  Mane  and  Little  Cotton  Tail. 

Spontaneous  attention  more  effective  than  forced  divided 
attention.  —  Spontaneous  attention  is  usually  more  effective 
in  learning  than  forced  attention  because  the  latter  is  likely 
to  be  so  divided  that  only  a  small  portion  of  it  is  given  to 
the  lesson.  This  is  illustrated  by  the  pupil  who  is  busily 
engaged  in  shooting  paper  darts  from  a  rubber  band  and  at 
the  same  time  apparently  listening  to  other  pupils  recite.  This 
pupil's  attention  is  divided,  part  of  it  being  given  to  the  rubber 
band,  part  to  his  targets,  and  just  enough  to  the  teacher  and 
recitation  to  avoid  being  caught.  That  such  divided  atten- 
tion is  not  very  effective  in  learning  lessons  can  be  easily 
realized  if  the  reader  will  call  to  mind  his  own  efforts  to 
study  for  an  examination  when  a  conversation  in  which  he 
is  interested  is  being  carried  on  across  the  table  from  him 
and  he  realizes  that  he  has  only  twenty  minutes  left  in  which 
to  get  ready  for  the  examination.  Or  call  to  mind  efforts  to 
study  after  returning  from  a  dance,  with  the  mind  full  of 
alluring  melodies  and  memories,  or  after  laying  down  an  un- 
finished and  exciting  book.  It  takes  no  fine  psychological 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     207 

measurements  to  show  that  the  progress  made  during  an 
hour  of  such  divided  and  forced  attention  is  often  not  as 
great  as  that  made  during  fifteen  minutes  of  concentrated, 
undivided,  spontaneous  attention  to  the  lesson  in  question. 
In  school  work  it  is  obvious  that  the  substitution  of  such 
spontaneous,  undivided  attention  for  the  forced  and  divided 
attention  which  is  often  found  there  would  mean  much  more 
effective  and  economical  learning. 

Spontaneous  attention,  however,  may  be  misdirected.  — 
Sometimes,  however,  the  spontaneous  attention  which  a 
teacher  secures  is  misdirected,  and  as  a  consequence  the 
instruction  is  largely  wasted.  This  fact  is  illustrated  by 
the  following  amusing  incident  quoted  by  Thorndike,  from 
the  methods  of  a  certain  Miss  Bessie  with  a  group  of 
primary  children. 

It  had  seemed  to  Miss  Bessie  advisable  that  the  children  should 
know  something  of  the  world  on  which  they  live,  and  for  purposes 
of  instruction  she  had  selected  a  geyser  and  a  volcano  as  impor- 
tant—  not  to  say  interesting  —  features  of  land  structure.  By 
means  of  a  rubber  ball  with  a  hole  in  it,  artfully  concealed  in  a 
pile  of  sand,  she  had  created  a  geyser,  and  with  a  bit  of  cotton 
soaked  in  alcohol  and  lighted,  she  had  simulated  a  volcano. 

We  began  our  work  with  geography  in  ignorance  of  these  facts. 
After  a  few  lessons  on  hills,  mountains,  islands,  capes,  and  bays 
the  children  informed  us  that  they  "  did  n't  like  those  old  things." 
"  Please  won't  you  give  us  the  fireworks,"  asked  Freddie.  "  Or 
the  squirt  ?  "  added  Agnes,  eagerly.  (6  :  63) 

Sugar-coating  may  be  justified  if  it  secures  properly  di- 
rected attention.  —  Such  examples  have  led  some  educators 
to  condemn  all  sugar-coating  to  secure  interest,  but  it  is 
possible  to  justify  some  sugar-coating  by  distinguishing  be- 
tween harmful  and  useful  forms  of  it.  Miss  Bessie's  device 
was  harmful  because  it  merely  secured  attention  to  the  fire- 
works and  did  not  secure  attention  to  the  geographic  facts 
to  be  taught.  Contrast  with  it  the  following  method  of 


208       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

sugar-coating  drill  upon  fractions.  A  fifth-grade  teacher  has 
a  pack  of  cards  with  a  fraction  such  as  |  or  |  printed  on 
each.  She  stands  before  the  class,  writes  a  multiplier  such 
as  ^  on  the  board,  and  then  flashes  the  cards,  one  at  a 
time,  the  pupils  giving  the  answers  rapidly  in  turn.  A  record 
is  kept  of  the  time  consumed.  It  is  written  on  the  board 
in  a  column  containing  the  records  of  previous  days  with 
the  same  cards,  and  paralleling  the  record  made  by  another 
class.  The  fraction  drill  thus  becomes  a  competitive  game. 

It  is  just  as  much  a  sugar-coating  device,  however,  for  se- 
curing interest  and  zest  in  drill  on  fractions  as  Miss  Bessie's 
fireworks  were  sugar-coating  for  geographic  facts.  The  sugar- 
coating  character  of  the  game  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
it  has  no  essential  connection  with  fractions,  but  could  be 
played  with  any  kind  of  material  on  cards,  such  as  sums  in 
addition,  names  of  historical  characters,  dates  of  important 
events,  geographic  facts.  This  sugar-coated  drill,  however, 
is  justified  because  it  secures  concentrated  attention  exactly 
where  it  is  desired;  namely,  upon  each  fractional  operation 
in  multiplication  as  the  card  is  flashed.  Not  only  is  the 
child  attentive  who  is  called  on,  but  all  the  class  are  on 
their  toes,  helping  him  mentally,  as  it  were,  in  the  same 
way  that  a  coach  on  the  sidelines  takes  part  mentally  in 
each  play  made  in  baseball,  football,  or  basketball.  Scien- 
tific measurements  show  that  such  a  drill  game  does  actually 
bring  great  improvement  in  skill  and  speed  in  arithmetic ; 
hence  it  is  a  sugar-coating  device  that  is  justified,  not  only 
because  it  secures  concentrated  attention  where  desired 
but  also  because  objective,  precise  measurements  of  results 
prove  its  effectiveness. 

Ultimate  consequences  of  using  an  interest  must  be  harm- 
less. —  Another  general  question  about  interests  which  is 
illustrated  by  our  example  of  the  use  of  adventure  material 
in  teaching  reading  and  history  concerns  the  ultimate  con- 
sequences of  the  utilization  of  the  interest  concerned ;  for 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     209 

example,  does  more  harm  than  good  result  from  having 
children  read  adventure  stories  like  "  King  Tawny  Mane  " 
or  the  adventures  of  Richard  the  Lion-H carted  ?  The  answer 
varies  with  the  instinctive  interest  concerned  and  the  way 
it  is  used.  In  the  present  case  we  may  infer  the  answer 
from  the  fact  that  many  great  men,  including  President 
Wilson,  take  much  delight  in  reading  detective  stories  such 
as  those  of  Sherlock  Holmes,  and  many  college  professors, 
and  even  college  presidents  that  I  have  known,  are  regular 
readers  of  the  Saturday  Evening  Post.  It  could  be  easily 
shown  that  such  adventure  reading  by  the  general  public  is 
usually  a  harmless  form  of  enjoying  leisure  time.  Hence 
we  could  conclude  that  similar  reading  by  children  is  not 
reprehensible. 

Three  questions  in  evaluating  use  of  an  instinctive  in- 
terest. —  On  the  other  hand,  we  might  conclude  that  the 
ultimate  results  of  utilizing  a  given  instinctive  interest  in 
school  were  unsatisfactory  and  decide  against  it.  In  thus 
evaluating  the  use  of  any  inborn  or  instinctive  tendency 
as  the  basis  of  securing  interest  in  school  work,  we  may 
consider  at  least  three  questions  ;  namely  : 

1.  What   part    does    the    instinct   play   in   the   lives   of 
people  generally  ? 

2.  Is  it  effective  when  used  as  the  basis  of  attention  and 
interest  in  teaching  ? 

3.  Are  the  present  and  ultimate  educational  results  of 
utilizing  it  satisfactory  ? 

Illustrated  by  application  to  instinct  of  emulation.  —  To 
illustrate  the  application  of  these  questions,  let  us  consider 
the  use  of  the  instinct  of  emulation  in  instruction  from  the 
standpoint  of  each  question. 

i .  Emulation  an  important  cause  of  social  striving.  — 
Emulation,  or  rivalry,  is  one  of  the  most  impelling  motives  in 
social  life.    In  fact,  Veblen,  in  his  "  Theory  of  the  Leisure 
Class,"  maintains  that  "pecuniary  emulation"  (that  is,  the 


210       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

desire  to  possess  more  wealth  or  position  or  power  than  some- 
one else)  is  at  the  basis  of  most  social  striving  and  many 
phases  of  social  organization.  He  gives  examples  which  vary 
from  the  savage,  who  can  show  the  obvious  trophies  of  the 
chase  as  evidence  of  his  power  and  wealth,  to  the  American 
millionaire  whose  unused  mansion  on  Fifth  Avenue  or  River- 
side Drive  in  New  York,  and  whose  jewel-bedecked  wife  in 
the  golden  horseshoe  at  the  opera,  serve  the  same  purpose  by 
being  tangible  evidence  that  he  has  so  much  money  that  he 
can  afford  to  spend  it  in  perfectly  useless  or  unnecessary  ways. 
Such  persons,  and  in  a  small  way  many  others,  are  not  striv- 
ing for  necessities  or  even  for  luxuries ;  they  are  simply 
striving  to  get  more.  At  first  they  strive  to  get  more  than 
some  persons  and  as  much  as  certain  others  in  order  to  be 
considered  in  the  class  with  the  latter.  Having  attained  this 
point  they  are  not  satisfied,  but  continue  to  strive  to  secure 
more  than  their  present  equals  in  wealth  or  power  or  posi- 
tion, in  order  to  have  as  much  as  some  other  individual  or 
group  higher  up  in  the  scale  of  quantity.  Thus  the  striving 
is  always  going  on,  bringing  with  it  many  material  improve- 
ments in  life  and  at  the  same  time  producing  much  unhappi- 
ness,  but  leaving  no  doubt  that  emulation  is  one  of  the  most 
influential  causes  in  social  endeavor. 

2.  Emulation  has  been  effectively  tised  in  schools. — 
When  we  regard  emulation  from  the  standpoint  of  our 
second  question,  namely,  its  effectiveness  when  used  in 
instruction,  it  becomes  evident  that  it  can  be  made  just  as 
influential  in  school  as  it  is  in  social  life  at  large.  If  prizes, 
rewards,  honors,  and  position  are  held  up  for  competition, 
the  striving  of  students  to  attain  them  commonly  becomes 
intense  and  vigorous.  If  the  conditions  of  the  competition 
are  so  arranged  as  to  give  a  chance  to  pupils  of  all  degrees 
of  ability,  the  stimulus  affects  large  numbers.  The  large 
possibilities  of  using  emulation  as  a  motive  were  most  thor- 
oughly worked  out  by  the  Lancasterian  monitorial  schools 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     21 1 

whose  monitorial  system  as  used  in  New  York  City  was 
described  on  page  69.  Children  were  given  tickets  each 
day  according  to  their  success  in  various  subjects.  After  a 
sufficient  number  of  tickets  had  been  accumulated  these 
could  be  exchanged  for  badges  of  honor,  or  books,  or  even 
pocket  knives  and  toys.  Similar  devices  were  widely  used  in 
certain  Sunday  schools.  A  description  of  this  practice  is 
given  by  Mark  Twain  in  "  Tom  Sawyer,"  in  the  chapter 
entitled  "  Showing  off  in  Sunday  School." 

The  action  is  supposed  to  take  place  about  1840.  The 
description  opens  with  a  picture  of  Tom  at  the  door  of  the 
church  on  Sunday  exchanging  fish  hooks,  sticks  of  "  lickrish," 
marbles,  and  other  trifles  for  "  yaller  "  tickets,  blue  tickets,  and 
red  ones.  During  the  period  before  Sunday  school  opened, 
Tom  carried  on  these  high  financial  operations  so  success- 
fully that  he  had  accumulated  a  large  supply  of  tickets  by 
the  time  the  pupils  took  their  seats  to  recite  their  lessons. 
The  children  who  were  successful  received  one  blue  ticket 
for  every  two  verses  which  they  recited.  On  the  ticket  was 
printed  a  verse  from  the  Bible.  Ten  blue  tickets  could  be 
exchanged  for  one  red  one,  and  ten  of  the  latter  for  a  yellow 
ticket.  Finally,  after  the  pupil  had  earned  ten  yellow  tickets 
he  received  in  exchange  for  them  a  Bible.  According  to  the 
story,  Tom's  conscientious  sister,  Mary,  had,  during  two  years, 
earned  two  Bibles  in  this  manner  while  the  "  teacher's  pet " 
had  earned  four  or  five.  The  ceremony  of  giving  a  child 
the  Bible  which  he  had  earned  made  him  so  conspicuous 
that  he  was  envied  by  all  the  other  children  who  were  spurred 
on  to  greater  efforts  in  emulation  of  him. 

Doubtless  the  reader  recalls  the  dire  adventure  which  befell 
Tom  in  his  efforts  to  attain  fame  and  prominence  by  the 
method  of  high  finance  instead  of  the  slow  process  of  mem- 
orizing verses.  If  you  do  not,  you  may  spend  a  pleasant 
quarter  of  an  hour  reading  the  incident  in  Mark  Twain's 
own  inimitable  account  of  it.  For  our  present  purposes,  we 


212        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

are  merely  concerned  with  it  as  an  example  of  the  practice 
which  prevailed  so  generally  in  Sunday  schools,  of  appealing 
to  the  instinct  of  emulation  to  spur  pupils  to  greater  efforts 
in  their  studies. 

In  public  schools  to-day  teachers  often  place  the  names 
of  children  on  the  board  with  red  stars  and  yellow  stars 
opposite  them  to  indicate  various  degrees  of  success.  The 
general  testimony  concerning  such  appeals  to  emulation 
indicates  that  they  are  quite  effective  in  getting  many  pupils 
to  study  attentively  and  diligently. 

3.  Are  the  total  effects  of  using  individual  emulation 
unsatisfactory  f  —  However,  when  we  come  to  consider  the 
total  influence  of  appeals  to  emulation,  we  find  ourselves  in 
a  dilemma.  Many  idealistic  educators  disapprove  entirely 
of  the  use  of  emulation  and  rivalry  in  schools,  because,  they 
say,  this  practice  merely  increases  in  each  pupil  the  tendency 
to  scramble  for  more  wealth  or  power,  and  that  this  selfish 
tendency  is  the  basis  of  many  social  evils.  Not  only  in 
social  life  but  also  in  school,  they  say,  it  tends  to  develop 
unhappiness,  hard  feeling,  and  deceit. 

Children  s  flay  is  naturally  strongly  competitive.  —  On 
the  other  hand,  if  we  watch  children  at  play,  we  find  emula- 
tion such  a  large  feature  that  Kirkpatrick  says,  "  Competition 
is  the  most  prominent  element  in  the  play  of  children  from 
seven  to  twelve."  (4:  157.)  Since  much  of  the  energy  of 
children  during  this  age  is  spent  in  such  competitive  play, 
it  makes  us  wonder  whether  playful  competition  is,  after  all, 
such  a  pernicious  matter.  Certainly  in  the  play  of  children 
it  does  n't  develop  an  overwhelming  amount  of  unhappiness 
and  hard  feelings  but,  on  the  contrary,  seems  to  be  an  essen- 
tial feature  of  their  happiest  moments. 

Rivalry  in  social  life  may  be  directed  to  worthy  ends.  — 
Further  light  is  thrown  on  our  dilemma  by  examples  from 
social  life  where  competition,  or  rivalry,  is  used  in  the  pur- 
suit of  some  worthy  end,  such  as  raising  funds  for  the  Red 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     213 

Cross.  In  this  case,  cities  or  teams  or  individuals  compete 
vigorously  with  each  other,  but  the  harder  they  compete,  the 
harder  they  are  working  for  a  desirable  social  outcome. 

Emulation  being  directed  in  schools  to  secure  beneficial 
results.  —  Possibly  the  answer  to  our  dilemma  would  be  that 
emulation  or  rivalry  is  not  in  itself  a  pernicious  tendency 
but,  instead,  is  one  of  the  most  useful  of  human  instincts  in 
bringing  about  self-improvement  and  social  improvement. 
The  problem  of  directing  it  in  social  life  so  that  people  will 
compete  in  socially  helpful  ways  is  being  solved  by  demo- 
cratic governments  which  are  restricting  more  and  more 
the  opportunities  for  individuals  to  acquire  enormous  for- 
tunes and  power  and  are  interesting  the  efficient,  competi- 
tive persons  more  and  more  in  public  enterprises.  The 
problem  of  utilizing  rivalry  in  schools  is  being  solved  not  by 
eliminating  it  but,  first,  by  setting  up  certain  standard  scores 
in  arithmetic,  handwriting,  spelling,  etc.,  and  certain  model 
achievements  in  other  subjects  which  pupils  become  inter- 
ested in  equaling  or  beating,  and,  second,  by  having  groups 
and  classes  compete  with  each  other  as  illustrated  in  the 
fraction  game  on  page  208.  In  these  forms,  the  increasing 
use  of  well-directed  competition  is  one  of  the  most  striking 
features  of  recent  improvements  in  school-teaching. 

Summary  of  discussion  of  general  aspects  of  interest  and 
attention.  —  In  our  discussions  of  interests  up  to  this  point, 
we  have  noted  the  following  ideas  :  (i)  that  interest  is  a 
helpful  attitude  in  learning,  as  illustrated  by  the  effective  use 
of  the  adventure  interest  in  teaching  reading  and  history; 
(2)  that  utilizing  children's  interests  thus  becomes  a  good 
business  proposition  ;  (3)  that  the  explanation  of  the  value 
of  using  children's  interests  is  found  in  the  fact  that  they 
are  the  basis  of  spontaneous  attention  ;  (4)  that  care  must 
be  taken  in  using  children's  interests  to  see  that  their 
attention  is  not  misdirected  ;  (5)  that  if  attention  is  properly 
directed,  devices  for  sugar-coating  uninteresting  material  are 


214        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

often  justified ;  and  (6)  in  utilizing  any  inborn  instinctive 
interest  we  must  consider  not  only  its  effectiveness  in  get- 
ting certain  present  results  but  also  its  ultimate  influence  on 
the  character  of  the  pupil  and  in  social  life  after  school. 

Important  instincts  used  as  basis  of  attention  and  interest. 
-  In  presenting  these  general  facts  about  interests,  we  used 
as  examples  two  very  prominent  instinctive  interests  ;  namely, 
the  interests  in  adventure  and  in  competition.  These  are 
called  instinctive  because  they  originate  in  certain  human 
characteristics  which  are  inborn ;  that  is,  are  not  the  result 
of  experience.  We  shall  continue  our  discussion  of  utilizing 
children's  interests  as  the  basis  of  economy  in  learning  by 
discussing  a  number  of  these  instinctive  interests,  as  follows  : 

A.  Those  used  before  Rousseau's  humanitarian  appeal  to  bast 
teaching  upon  the  instincts  and  capacities  of  childhood. 

1.  Fear  of  physical  pain. 

2.  Fear  of  sarcasm  and  ridicule. 

3.  Rivalry  for  rewards  and  position. 

B.  Interests  used  in  accordance  with  Rousseau's  humanitarian^ 
psychological  method. 

1.  Interest  in  adventure  and  romance. 

2.  Interest  in  actions  of  people  and  animals. 

3.  Desire  for  social  approval. 

4.  Interest  in  rhythm,  rime,  jingle,  and  song. 

5.  Curiosity,  wonder,  puzzle  interest,  problem  interest,  mental 
activity. 

6.  Interest  in  expression  and  communication. 

7.  Manipulation  and  general  physical  activity. 

8.  Collecting  instinct. 

9.  Imitative  play. 

10.  Interest  in  games.1 

1  Precise  psycho logv  of  instincts. —  Students  of  psychology  who  desire  to 
reduce  this  list'  of  instinctive  interests  to  its  simplest  components  should 
read  Thorndike's  "  Educational  Psychology,"  Vol.  I.  The  terms  used  above 
are  chosen  because  they  are  readily  understood  by  eighteen-year-old  students 
who  have  had  no  psychology.  The  order  of  presentation  of  the  interests  is 
also  determined  by  the  apperceptional  needs  of  such  students. 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     215 

i.  Fear  of  physical  pain  generally  used  until  1800.  —  It 

is  hard  to  realize  that  in  western  Europe  for  hundreds  of 
years  the  principal  means  of  getting  pupils  to  study  their 
lessons  was  fear  of  physical  punishment ;  but  this  was  the 
case.  There  is  plenty  of  evidence  in  the  pictures  of  old-time 
schools,  in  the  appeals  to  abolish  the  practice  which  were 
made  by  such  famous  writers  as  Erasmus  (1466-1536), 
Comenius  (i  592-1670),  Ascham  (151 5-1 568),  and  Mulcaster 
(1530-161 1),  and  in  the  records  of  the  number  of  whippings 
given  by  schoolmasters.  The  picture  on  page  217,  in  which 
a  large  bunch  of  switches  is  held  ready  in  each  master's  hand, 
is  typical.  The  switches  were  held  in  such  a  convenient 
position,  not  because  the  boys  were  likely  to  be  unruly  or 
insubordinate  but  in  order  that  the  teacher  might  give  a 
blow  for  each  mistake  as  soon  as  the  pupil  made  it 
while  reciting. 

Apart  from  the  fact  that  for  humanitarian  reasons  such 
punishment  would  not  be  tolerated  at  the  present  time,  it 
would  not  be  used  because  it  is  obviously  ineffective.  Instead 
of  securing  spontaneous  attention,  at  the  best  it  secures 
forced,  divided  attention  under  conditions  that  are  very 
unfavorable  to  mental  progress.  For  these  reasons  the  use 
of  the  instinctive  fear  of  physical  pain  as  a  stimulus  to 
attention  was  generally  discarded  after  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century. 

2.  Fear  of  sarcasm  and  ridicule.  —  Somewhat  akin  to  the 
appeal  based  on  the  fear  of  physical  pain  is  that  based  on  the 
instinctive  fear  of  sarcasm  and  ridicule.  This  form  of  stimu- 
lus is  still  used  by  many  teachers,  who  regard  it  as  an  effective 
instrument.  Such  teachers  practice  the  use  of  sarcasm  and 
ridicule  as  an  art,  and  develop  a  vocabulary  of  stinging 
terms  and  expressions  calculated  to  make  the  laziest  pupil 
apply  himself  in  order  to  avoid  a  repetition  of  the  ridicule. 
It  is  true  that  such  methods  are  often  effective  in  securing 
attention  and  effort  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  but  attention 


2i6       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

secured  in  this  way  is  likely  to  be  forced  and  divided  and, 
hence,  relatively  ineffective  as  compared  with  spontaneous 
attention.  If  some  means  of  arousing  the  latter  can  be  de- 
vised, it  would  be  better  to  omit  sarcasm  and  ridicule.  More- 
over, the  unhappiness  which  these  cause  most  pupils  to  suffer 
and  the  unfriendly  relations  which  they  tend  to  establish 
between  teacher  and  pupils  furnish  additional  reasons  for 
avoiding  their  use  under  ordinary  circumstances.  Certain  mild 
forms  of  good-humored  ridicule,  in  which  the  lazy  or  careless 
pupil  becomes  the  object,  for  the  moment,  of  mild,  friendly 
bantering  by  the  teacher,  would  be  the  exceptions  to  the  gen- 
eral rule  of  eliminating  ridicule  as  a  stimulus  to  attention. 

3.  Emulation.  —  The  transition  from  the  use  of  the  fear 
of  physical  pain  to  the  use  of  emulation  represents  a  definite 
historical  advance  and  was  so  regarded  by  the  two  large 
systems  that  used  emulation  extensively;  namely,  that  of  the 
Jesuits  (1540),  discussed  above,  and  the  Lancasterian  moni- 
torial system,  which  was  adopted  extensively  in  the  large 
cities  in  the  United  States  from  1805  to  1830.  In  view 
of  the  long  evaluation  of  the  use  of  emulation  given  above 
(pp.  209-213)  nothing  more  need  be  said  concerning  it. 

Other  instinctive  interests  of  children  utilized  recently.  — 
As  a  general  rule  the  fear  of  physical  pain  and  of  sarcasm 
and  ridicule,  together  with  appeal  to  emulation,  constituted 
the  instinctive  bases  for  securing  the  attention  of  pupils 
until  the  reforms  proposed  in  Rousseau's  "  Emile  "  began  to 
affect  school  practice.  As  we  have  noted  several  times, 
Rousseau  said  to  study  childhood,  particularly  the  instincts 
and  capacities  of  children,  in  order  to  determine  how  they 
learn  most  readily  and  effectively.  In  his  program  he  em- 
phasized especially  the  use  of  children's  instinctive  interests 
as  the  most  economical  and  effective  method  of  securing 
attention.  While  later  educators  have  departed  somewhat 
from  Rousseau's  account  of  what  children's  interests  are,  his 
general  idea  of  basing  teaching  upon  children's  instincts  is 


ftber 


A  BLOW  FOR  EACH  MISTAKE 


A  medieval  Latin  school.   Notice  the  "  I  '11-get-you-yet "  leer  in  the  eyes  of  the  prin- 
cipal teacher,  ready,  with  switches  poised,  to  punish  for  each  mistake  in  translation 
or  grammar.   Notice  the  assistant  teacher  circulating  with  his  switches  to  distribute 
blows  where  needed.  See  discussion  on  page  215 


218        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

being  carried  out  more  and  more  in  teaching.  The  following 
paragraphs  will  consider  some  of  these  interests  of  children 
which  have  gradually  replaced  in  schools  reliance  on  fear 
and  on  rivalry  for  prizes  and  material  rewards. 

1.  Interest  in  adventure  and  romance. — We  have  already 
shown  on  pages  201-205  now  the  common  instinctive  inter- 
est in  adventure  and  romance  is  used  in  securing  an  interest 
in  reading  and  history.    All  the  examples  given  there  con- 
cerned boys  who  had  shown  a  strong  interest  in  adventure 
stories.    It  is  important  to  keep  in  mind  that  little  girls  are 
often  just  as  much  interested  in  such  stories  as  are  boys. 
This  is  charmingly  pictured  in  the  foreword  of  "  Scotland's 
Story,"  by  H.  E.  Marshall,  several  of  whose  books  are  dedi- 
cated to  little  girls.    The  foreword  reads  in  part  as  follows : 

WHY  THIS   BOOK  WAS  WRITTEN 

"  It  is  very  nice,"  said  Caledonia,  as  she  closed  her  book  with 
a  sigh  ;  "  but  why  did  you  not  tell  us  stories  of  Scotland  ?  " 

"  Because  there  was  no  need.  That  has  been  done  already  by 
a  great  and  clever  man." 

"  Oh,  but  children  sometimes  like  the  stories  which  are  written 
by  the  not  clever  people  best,"  said  Caledonia,  wisely.  "  Littler 
children  do,  anyhow.  They  are  more  simpler,  you  know." 

"  Oh,  indeed !  "  said  I. 

"  I  wish  you  would  write  '  Scotland's  Story '  for  littler  children  like 
me,"  went  on  Caledonia,  "  and  please  put  more  battles  in  it  than 
in  '  Our  Island  Story.'  But  you  must  not  say  that  the  Scots  were 
defeated.  I  don't  like  it  at  all  when  you  say  '  The  Scots  and  the 
Picts  were  driven  back.'  " 

2.  Interest  in  the  actions  of  people  and  animals.  —  Closely 
related  to   the  interest  in  romance  and  adventure  is  the 
common   interest   in   the   actions   of   people  and   animals. 
This  interest  persists  throughout  life.   Infants  will  notice  and 
watch  persons  and  dogs,  cats,  horses,  and  cows  with  the 
greatest  ardor,  while,  at  the  opposite  extreme,  most  adults 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     219 

get  their  chief  leisure  enjoyment  in  life  from  mingling  with 
crowds,  watching  people  stroll  or  play  or  work,  and  in  talk- 
ing gossip  about  people  and  reading  about  people  in  fiction 
and  in  accounts  of  daily  events.  Adults  are  also  greatly 
interested  in  animal  pets.  During  the  period  when  children 
are  in  the  primary  and  middle  grades,  the  interest  in  the 
actions  of  animals  and  people  is  especially  strong.  Their 
fondness  for  pets  is  well  known,  while  their  interest  in 
the  movies  is  sufficient  in  itself  to  prove  their  interest 
in  the  actions  of  people.  These  interests,  combined  with 
the  interest  in  excitement  and  adventure,  result  in  their 
enthusiasm  for  such  stories  as  "  King  Tawny  Mane," 
"  Little  Red  Riding  Hood,"  fairy  tales,  etc.  By  using 
thes<*  interests  as  a  point  of  departure,  almost  any  phase 
of  social  life  which  children  can  understand  can  be  made 
of  interest  to  them.  For  example,  Rousseau  proposed  to 
use  the  story  of  Robinson  Crusoe  as  an  introduction  to 
the  study  of  the  wants  and  industries  of  people.  This  sug- 
gestion was  carried  out  in  great  detail  in  certain  elementary 
schools  not  long  ago.  One  needs  only  to  look  through  a 
library,  and  to  ascertain  what  manifold  phases  of  human  life 
have  been  represented  in  story  and  romance,  in  order  to 
appreciate  what  wide  use  may  be  made  of  the  instinctive 
interest  in  the  actions  of  animals  and  people  to  secure  the 
spontaneous  attention  of  pupils  to  many  important  topics 
and  activities.  In  our  earlier  chapters  we  have  given  a 
number  of  illustrations  of  useful  learning  which  starts  with 
these  interests;  namely,  (i)  the  child  who  became  interested 
in  Bible  reading  through  adventure  stories,  movies,  and  the 
battles  of  the  Greeks  and  Persians  (see  page  49),  (2)  basing 
the  study  of  history  on  the  adventures  of  the  Vikings,  of 
Greek  heroes,  of  Horatius  at  the  bridge,  and  on  the  lives 
and  customs  of  historic  peoples  (see  pages  135-140);  and 
(3)  keeping  pets  as  the  source  for  a  number  of  lines  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  kindergarten  and  first  grade  (see  pages  170-173). 


220       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

3.  Instinctive  desire  for  social  approval;  the  basis  of 
fashions  and  forms  of  social  control.  —  The  third  instinctive 
interest  which  we  shall  consider  is  the  desire  for  the  approval 
of  persons,  for  social  approval.  The  utilization  of  this  in- 
stinct in  the  negative 'form  of  fear  of  sarcasm  and  ridicule 
and  the  unhumanitarian  character  of  such  use  we  discussed 
on  page  215.  The  opposite  practice  of  positive  personal 
approbation  by  the  teacher  is  not  unhumanitarian,  however, 
and  is  being  widely  used  in  home  and  school.  The  effective- 
ness of  both  of  these  phases  of  the  instinct  in  stimulating 
or  depressing  people  is  described  by  Thorndike  in  the 
following  statement : 

Darwin  long  ago  noted  the  extraordinarily  ill-proportioned 
misery  that  comes  from  committing  some  blunder  in  society 
whereat  people  involuntarily  "  look  down  "  on  one  for  an  instant. 
Except  for  him  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  [inborn  char- 
acter] of  the  hunger  of  man  for  the  externals  of  admiration  and 
the  intolerability  of  objective  scorn  and  derision.  Yet  these  forces 
of  approval  and  disapproval  .  .  .  are  and  have  been  potent  social 
controls.  For  example,  the  "  discipline "  of  a  humane  home  or 
school  to-day  relies  almost  entirely  upon  such  approval  from 
above,  and  finds  it  even  more  effective  than  severe  sensuous  pains 
and  deprivations.  The  elaborate  paraphernalia  and  rites  of  fashion 
in  clothes  exist  chiefly  by  virtue  of  their  value  as  means  of  securing 
diffuse  notice  and  approval.  .  .  .  The  institution  of  tipping,  which 
began  perhaps  in  kindliness  and  was  fostered  by  economic  self- 
interest,  is  now  well-nigh  impregnable  because  no  man  is  brave 
enough  to  withstand  the  scorn  of  a  line  of  lackeys  whom  he 
heartily  despises,  or  of  a  few  onlookers  whom  he  will  never  see 
again.  (8(6):  31) 

Teacher 's  approval  especially  desired  in  primary  grades.  — 
Speaking  of  the  utilization  in  school  of  the  desire  for  social 
approval  Kirkpatrick  says : 

At  first  [the  child]  cares  most  for  approval  of  parents,  later  of 
teachers,  then  of  companions.  ...  In  the  early  years  parents  and 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     221 

primary  teachers  who  have  the  love  of  their  children  may  get  them 
to  do  almost  anything  by  appealing  to  the  desire  for  personal 
approval ;  but  as  children  get  older,  they  care  more  and  more  for 
the  public  sentiment  of  their  social  group.  The  successful  grade 
teacher  must  therefore  learn  to  understand,  mold,  and  use  public 
sentiment  in  governing  her  school.  (4  :  123) 

Encouraging  atmosplicre  of  a  first-grade  room.  —  The 
general  tone  of  a  first-grade  room  in  which  the  teacher 
appealed  strongly  to  the  children's  desire  for  social  approval 
is  suggested  by  the  following  remarks  which  she  made.  The 
children  were  getting  ready  for  dismissal.  The  teacher  said, 
"  I  want  to  see  if  these  nice  ready  boys  can  take  their  seats 
quietly";  whereupon  the  boys  strutted  proudly  to  their  seats. 
Later  she  said,  "  Now  show  me  the  first  people  that  are 
ready."  During  a  writing  lesson  she  said,  "I  am  coming 
around  to  see  which  papers  are  the  neatest.  .  .  .  Donald's 
is  very  nice  because  he  has  good  spacing.  .  .  .  Who  are 
the  first  ones  ready  with  pencils  and  tablets  put  away  ?  There, 
Richard  is  the  first  one  ready  again."  When  the  other 
section  came  walking  in  on  tiptoe,  the  teacher  said,  "  What 
nice  toes  they  have  to-day !  "  The  children  smiled  and  were 
proud  of  the  impression  they  had  made.  During  a  reading 
lesson,  when  a  child  expressed  an  idea  well,  the  teacher  said, 
"Yes,  that's  it,"  in  an  approving  tone.  It  was  interesting 
to  note  that  even  such  slight  expressions  of  approval  were 
treasured  by  the  children.  Doubtless  the  reader  can  recall 
from  her  own  experiences  as  a  pupil  occasions  when  a  few 
words  of  approval  from  a  teacher  have  sung  in  her  memory 
for  hours  or  days  afterward. 

4.  Interest  in  rhythm  and  rime,  jingle  and  song.  - 
The  interests  in  rhythm  and  rime,  jingle  and  song  are 
such  large  factors  in  the  lives  of  children  and  adults  that 
they  offer  important  possibilities  in  school-teaching.  Their 
importance  in  adult  social  life  is  suggested  by  the  fact  that 
they  are  basic  factors  in  the  enjoyment  of  dancing,  music, 


222       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

and  poetry.  If  you  will  read  the  history  of  Greek  art,  early 
features  of  which  were  festival  dances  at  the  time  of  har- 
vesting the  grapes,  you  will  see  how  the  simple  fundamental 
instinctive  interests  in  rhythm  and  song  may  be  developed 
gradually  into  the  highest  forms  of  art.  That  children  are 
fascinated  with  rimes  and  jingles  is  shown  in  their  enthu- 
siasm for  Mother  Goose  rimes,  for  skipping  games,  etc. 
The  possibilities  of  utilizing  these  instinctive  interests  were 
early  recognized  in  the  kindergarten,  where  rhythmic  activi- 
ties, such  as  skipping,  clapping,  marching,  dancing,  and 
singing  are  prominent  features.  In  teaching  beginning 
reading,  nursery  rimes  such  as  "  Old  Mother  Hubbard  "  and 
"  Little  Jack  Horner  "  were  introduced  into  the  first  grade  only 
a  few  years  ago,  but  are  now  widely  used.  One  of  the  most 
recent  innovations  in  the  use  of  rhythms  in  school  is  the 
carrying  on  of  handwriting  drills  in  rhythm,  —  in  the  primary 
grades  while  reciting  "  Seesaw,  Margery  Daw,  up  and  down 
we  go,"  and  in  the  upper  grades  while  a  metronome  is 
ticking.  The  effectiveness  of  the  use  of  such  rhythms  in 
handwriting  drills  is  not  merely  a  matter  of  opinion,  but 
has  been  proved  by  precise  objective  measures. 

5.  Curiosity,  wondei,  puzzle  interest,  problem  interest, 
mental  activity.  —  An  important  group  of  instinctive  tend- 
encies and  interests  is  suggested  by  the  words  "curiosity," 
"  wonder,"  "  puzzle  interest,"  "  problem  interest,"  "  mental 
activity."  Of  these,  the  term  "curiosity"  is  perhaps  most 
suggestive  of  the  mental  tendency  to  which  we  refer.  An 
example  of  its  occurrence  was  given  on  page  203  in  quoting 
merely  certain  portions  of  the  story  of  King  Tawny  Mane. 
The  second  portion  ended  thus : 

"  What  have  you  seen  ?  "  said  the  lion. 

I  imagine  that  many  of  the  readers  of  this  book  by  this 
time  would  like  to  know  what  Little  Cotton  Tail  had  seen. 
If  so,  you  can  satisfy  your  curiosity  by  reading  pages  65-67 
of  Thorndike's  "  Principles  of  Teaching,"  where  the  whole 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     223 

story  appears  and  from  which  our  portions  were  quoted. 
In  doing  this  you  will  be  paralleling  the  mental  action  of 
the  reader  of  a  story  in  a  periodical  who  suddenly  encounters 
"continued  next  week,"  a  mental  action  which  includes  not 
only  a  vague  feeling  of  wonder  but  also  a  definite  craving 
for  further  reading  and  an  active  tendency  to  procure  the 
next  installment  of  the  story.  This  type  of  mental  unrest 
and  craving  is  a  factor  in  the  recent  improvements  in  organ- 
izing reading  material  for  children.  Such  material,  at  its 
best,  must  not  only  include  actions  and  adventures  of  animals 
and  people,  but  must  be  so  artfully  written  as  to  maintain 
the  element  of  suspense  throughout. 

Popular  science  illustrates  wonder  about  nature,  used  in 
geography.  —  Curiosity  and  wonder  concerning  facts  of 
nature  and  geography  are  illustrated  by  the  common  interest 
in  reading  magazines  of  popular  science  and  the  strange 
and  weird  happenings  that  are  recounted  in  the  "  patent 
insides"  of  rural  and  small-town  newspapers.  The  legitimate 
utilization  of  such  curiosity  and  wonder  in  teaching  geog- 
raphy was  illustrated  in  the  use  of  pictures  of  remote  regions 
in  beginning  the  study  of  North  America  as  described  on 
page  117. 

Mental  striving  involved  in  puzzle  interest ;  riddles  tised 
in  composition. — When  the  curiosity  which  has  been  aroused 
is  to  be  satisfied  not  merely  by  further  reading,  looking,  or 
listening  but  by  reflective  study,  we  have  involved  the  in- 
stinctive///^^ interest  or  problem  interest.  This  interest  or 
form  of  mental  striving  may  be  aroused  in  adults  and  chil- 
dren by  even  the  most  foolish  and  useless  issues.  Mechani- 
cal puzzles  furnish  excellent  illustrations ;  for  example,  on 
a  canoeing  trip  I  watched  an  Indian  guide,  a  very  intelli- 
gent white  guide,  and  a  very  efficient  business  man  spend 
much  time  fascinated  in  the  efforts  to  untangle  a  wire  puzzle. 
The  popularity  of  riddles  with  adults  and  children  are  further 
examples  of  the  fact  that  perfectly  foolish  puzzles  arouse  the 


224       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

problem  interest.    Some  teachers  use  riddles  as  a  means  of 
arousing  the  pupils'  interest  in  the  primary  grades  in  writing 


A  SECOND-GRADE  COMPOSITION  WHICH  UTILIZES  THE  PUPIL'S 
INTEREST  IN  RIDDLES 

sentences,  the  children  becoming  fascinated  in  composing, 
writing,  and  solving  such  simple  problems  as  the  following : 

What  has  a  face  and  no  mouth  ? 
What  has  teeth  and  cannot  bite  ? 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     225 

Even  first-grade  children  may  cooperatively  compose  compara- 
tively long  riddles,  as  shown  in  the  following  example,  which 
provided  an  interesting  basis  for  much  training  in  expression. 

A   RIDDLK 

We  have  two  little  pets  in  our  room.  We  will  give  you  a  riddle 
about  them.  Will  you  try  to  guess  it  ? 

They  live  in  a  wire  cage.  They  climb  all  over  it.  They  are 
white  and  small,  and  have  pink  eyes,  noses,  claws,  ears,  and  tails. 
Their  tails  are  long,  which  helps  them  jn  climbing. 

Our  pets  eat  wheat,  bird-seed,  crackers,  toast,  and  cake.  They 
wink  their  noses  when  they  eat,  as  a  bunny  does. 

They  make  a  nest  of  cotton.  When  they  don't  want  us  to 
bother  them  they  cover  it  all  over  with  sawdust  and  make 
a  .new  hole. 

They  sleep  during  the  day  and  wake  at  night.  They  climb  on 
our  arms  and  try  to  go  up  our  sleeves. 

Can  you  guess  what  they  are  ?  Here  they  are  spelled  backwards, 
etihw  earn. 

Popular  composition  books  for  the  middle  grades  get 
children  interested  in  writing  compositions  descriptive  of 
different  animals  or  different  cities  which,  however,  are  not 
named  in  the  compositions,  and  then  having  members  of 
the  class  guess  what  animal  or  city  is  described  in  each 
composition  as  it  is  read. 

Puzzle  or  problem  interest  easily  aroused  regardless  of 
practical  value.  —  A  teacher  can  arouse  the  puzzle  or  prob- 
lem interest  of  a  class  by  almost  any  kind  of  problem 
which  they  can  understand,  regardless  of  its  practical  value 
to  them.  In  my  own  classes,  my  favorite  device  when  the 
students  begin  to  lose  interest  in  the  realities  of  practical 
teaching  is  to  raise  some  interesting  theoretical  problem  to 
revive  their  interest.  For  example,  not  one  person  out  of 
twenty-five  members  of  my  class  may  ever  have  occasion 
to  teach  a  foreign  language  to  children  under  twelve  years 


226       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

of  age,  but  it  is  perfectly  easy  to  get  the  whole  class  inter- 
ested in  discussing  whether  children  learn  a  foreign  language 
more  readily  than  adults,  particularly  when  I  assert  that  it  is 
my  opinion  that  college  students  learn  a  foreign  pronunciation 
and  vocabulary  much  more  quickly  than  little  children  do. 

Many  university  investigators  impelled  merely  by  desire 
to  solve  puzzling  problems.  —  Further  examples  of  the  inter- 
est of  adults  in  solving  problems  regardless  of  their  so-called 
"practical"  value  is  found  in  the  work  of  university  stu- 
dents and  professors.  Readers  of  this  book  may  not  be 
familiar  with  these  facts,  but  it  is  true  that  many  of  the 
investigations  carried  on  in  certain  departments  in  universi- 
ties have  no  other  motive  than  the  "ascertaining  of  truth"; 
and  the  investigators  are  impelled  to  carry  on  the  investiga- 
tions merely  by  the  desire  to  determine  what  the  answer  to 
some  puzzling  problem  is. 

The  real  bite  of  a  puzzling  problem  arouses  mental  striv- 
ing.—  Thus  we  see  that  the  puzzle  or  problem  interest  is 
manifested  in  children  and  adults  in  various  types  of  situa- 
tions varying  from  the  relatively  foolish  interest  in  puzzles 
and  riddles  up  to  the  advanced  scientific  interests  in  theo- 
retical investigations.  The  existence  of  this  general  puzzle 
interest  gives  the  school  one  of  its  best  opportunities  to  pro- 
vide valuable  training  through  merely  utilizing  the  instinctive 
interests  of  children.  Such  training  not  only  develops  skill 
in  problem  solving,  which  is  socially  very  valuable,  but  also 
keeps  the  pupil  actively  at  work  in  mastering  subject  matter 
in  history,  geography,  and  other  subjects.  In  order  to  arouse 
in  many  pupils  intense  mental  striving  to  solve  the  problem, 
it  is  only  necessary,  first,  to  make  sure  that  the  problem  is 
adapted  to  their  past  experience  and  understanding,  that  is, 
to  provide  for  the  principle  of  apperception,  and,  second,  to 
lead  up  to  the  question  in  such  a  manner  that  the  pupils 
are  really  puzzled  about  it.  With  many  children  additional 
interest  in  a  problem  is  aroused  by  appealing  to  competition 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     227 

or  rivalry  in  its  solution.  Some  children  who  will  strive  to 
solve  a  problem  in  a  group  where  they  have  a  chance  to 
show  off  or  to  compete  with  others  would  take  little  interest 
in  the  same  problem  if  required  to  work  on  it  by  themselves 
with  no  competitive  social  element  entering  in. 

Examples  of  problems  which  have  appealed  to  pupils.  — 
Examples  of  problems  which  have  actually  been  used  suc- 
cessfully in  puzzling  children  and  getting  them  to  strive  for 
the  solution  are  given  below. 

1 i )  Constructive  problems  are  particularly  prominent  in  the 
kindergarten  and  primary  grades ;  for  example,  in  the  kinder- 
garten :   "  How  can  blocks  be  piled  so  as  to  make  a  bridge 
across  this  imaginary  stream  chalked  on  the  floor? "  or  "  How 
can  a  slanting  roof  be  made  on  this  house  so  it  will  shed 
the  rain  ?  "   or,  given  the  paper  pattern  for  a  doll's  dress, 
"How  shall  it  be  placed  on  the  cloth  in  order  to  work  out 
the  dress  ?  "  or,  given  certain  pieces  of  paper,  "How  can 
they  be  folded  so  as  to  make  little  baskets  or  boxes  to  hold 
the  seeds  from  the  garden  ?  " 

(2)  Problems  of  social  needs  are  also  a  prominent  feature 
of  the  work  in  the  primary  and  middle  grades ;  for  example, 
in  studying  the  Vikings  in  the  third  grade,  the  children  were 
asked,  "  How,  probably,  did  the  inhabitants  of  old  Norway 
get  from  one  part  of  their  country  to  another  ?    What  kind 
of  boats  do  you  think  the  people  made  at  first  ?  "    Later,  in 
the  study  of  the  water  supply  of  Chicago,  the  children  are 
interested  in  such  problems  as,  "  Where  in  the  lake  do  you 
think  the  water  is  clearest  ?    Do  you  think  pipes  could  be 
laid  out  there  ?    How  could  the  freezing  of  the  pipes  in 
winter  be  prevented?" 

(3)  In  the  middle  and  upper  grades  more  complicated  prob- 
lems of  cause  and  effect  interest  the  pupils  ;  for  example,  in 
the  sixth  grade,  in  studying  the  period  of  exploration  such 
questions  as  the  following  appeal  if  properly  approached  : 
"  What  did  Vasco  da  Gama's  voyage  do  for  Portugal  ?    In 


228       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

what  way  would  this  direct  route  benefit  Portugal  ?  How  would 
it  benefit  western  Europe?  How  would  this  affect  the  cities 
of  Genoa,  Venice,  and  Florence  ?  "  In  geography,  the  chil- 
dren themselves  constantly  ask,  "Why  is  it  so  ?  Why  do  one 
half  of  Canton's  people  live  in  boats  ?  Why  is  China  so 
crowded  when  she  has  so  much  room  ?  Why  does  n't  she 
work  her  coal  mines  ?  " 

Mental  activity  is  a  pleasant  pastime .  —  The  terms  "  curi- 
osity," "wonder,"  "puzzle  interest,"  and  "problem  inter- 
ests "  may  all  be  included  in  the  broader  instinctive  interest 
in  mental  activity.  Concerning  this,  Thorndike  says : 

The  instinct  of  general  mental  activity  is  the  fountain  head  of 
human  intellectual  development  and  has  been  in  the  past  the  chief 
support  of  school  education.  Unlike  almost  all  other  animals,  man 
thinks  not  only  under  the  stress  of  some  immediate  practical  need, 
but  at  all  times  and  for  the  mere  enjoyment  of  thinking,  —  thinks 
not  only  about  the  few  particular  objects  that  feed,  warm,  protect, 
or  injure  him,  but  about  everything  he  experiences.  .  .  .  The  child 
watches  and  listens  to  all  sorts  of  objects  even  when  they  have  no 
meaning  for  his  bodily  needs.  For  to  the  human  being  intellectual 
life  is  as  truly  a  need  as  food  or  safety. 

Children  do  not  have  to  be  enticed  or  forced  to  think  and  learn. 
They  seek  ideas  as  eagerly  as  food.  Only  when  it  involves  restraint, 
monotony,  and  futility  is  thinking  objectionable.  The  teacher's 
problem  is  to  preserve  the  force  of  the  original  instinct  of  mental 
activity  by  giving  it  exercise  and  by  rewarding  its  exercise  with 
satisfaction,  and  to  guide  the  aimless,  random  thinking  of  children 
into  useful  and  rational  forms.  (6 :  25) 

6.  Interest  in  expression  and  communication  stimulates 
conversation.  —  The  tendency  to  talk  is  a  very  prominent 
characteristic  of  children  and  adults.  Generally  it  takes  the 
form  of  a  desire  to  talk  to  someone,  although  when  individ- 
uals are  deprived  of  company  for  a  long  time,  they  often 
talk  to  themselves.  Some  persons  are  so  extremely  talkative 
that  they  become  irrepressible  bores,  while  others  are  so 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     229 

taciturn  and  reticent  that  their  communication  consists  merely 
of  monosyllabic  grunts.  On  the  average,  however,  the  desire 
to  share  one's  ideas  and  experiences  with  others  leads  most 
persons  to  tell  "  the  news  "  to  their  friends  on  all  occasions 
and  to  discuss  their  problems  and  worries  whenever  they 
can  find  a  sympathetic,  friendly  audience. 

The  new  basis  of  recitations  and  training  in  expression. 
—  Until  recently  this  interest  in  communicating  one's  ex- 
periences, problems,  and  ideas  was  almost  entirely  unused 
in  school ;  in  fact,  it  was  generally  repressed,  children  merely 
being  allowed  to  recite  stuff  that  most  of  the  class  already 
knew.  Recent  improvements  in  teaching  make  the.  in- 
stinctive interest  in  communication  the  basis  of  two  of  the 
most  important  features  of  school  work  ;  namely,  the  conduct 
of  many  recitations  and  the  training  in  expression.  In  both 
of  these  cases  such  situations  are  created  that  certain  pupils 
have  experiences  and  ideas  to  relate  that  other  pupils  do 
not  have,  and  an  interested  and  sympathetic  audience  con- 
sisting of  the  teacher  and  pupils  is  thus  provided.  Not  only 
talking,  but  also  communication  through  writing  and  drawing 
are  utilized  and  stimulated  in  this  manner.  For  an  example 
of  the  use  of  drawing  see  the  frontispiece. 

7.  Manipulation  and  physical  activity ;  basis  of  sports, 
arts,  and  industries.  —  That  most  children  like  to  handle 
things  and  to  run,  jump,  skip,  hop,  dance,  etc.  is  a  matter 
of  common  observation.  As  in  the  case  of  the  general  in- 
stinct of  mental  activity,  so  in  this  case,  Thorndike's  evalu- 
ation of  the  instinct  is  particularly  illuminating  as  expressed 
in  the  following  words  : 

The  instinct  of  general  physical  activity  with  its  special  form, 
the  manipulation  of  objects,  is  the  original  source  of  sports,  indus- 
tries, and  arts,  and  is  in  childhood  the  prime  ally  of  intellectual 
development.  As  children  think  for  the  sake  of  thinking,  so  also 
they  move  about  and  handle  objects  just  for  the  love  of  action  and 
of  the  new  ideas  which  action  brings.  The  dog  does  a  few  things 


8   u 


EC     JJ 


2    w    tn 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     231 

to  a  small  variety  of  objects  and  can  become  a  hunter,  eater,  and 
carrier ;  the  child  does  all  sorts  of  things  to  almost  everything  and 
can  become  a  talker,  a  writer,  carpenter,  violinist,  and  hundreds  of 
things  besides. 

One  aim  of  the  school  is  to  direct  the  force  that  makes  children 
run,  jump,  tumble,  dance,  wriggle,  poke  each  other,  seize  and  throw, 
into  play  and  work  that  shall  be  healthy  for  mind  and  body,  and 
to  direct  the  force  that  makes  children  play  with  utensils,  toys,  and 
the  like  toward  the  arts  and  industries  that  have  most  educative 
value.  Even  where  the  action  and  manipulation  are  of  no  value  in 
themselves,  they  may  be  desirable  as  means  to  intellectual  or  moral 
ends.  We  work  against  nature  when  we  try  to  keep  young  children 
still.  To  learn  by  doing  something  is  to  learn  with  the  full  help  of 
instinct.  And  we  all  know  that  it  is  for  idle  hands  that  Satan  finds 
mischief.  (6:  26) 

Examples  of  use  of  physical  activity  in  schools.  —  The 
instinct  of  physical  activity  was  first  extensively  used  in  the 
kindergarten,  where  such  activities  as  piling  blocks,  cutting 

Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page.  —  The  historical  con- 
struction project  shown  on  page  230  was  worked  out  by  a  fifth- 
grade  class  in  a  manner  similar  to  the  description  on  page  9. 
The  children  had  read  Howard  Pyle's  "  King  Arthur "  and  had 
listened  to  Scott's  description  of  the  tournament  scene  in  "  Ivan- 
hoe."  After  considerable  discussion  and  planning,  a  committee  of 
three  children  constructed  in  plasticine  the  castle  shown  at  the 
left.  For  its  plan  they  followed  the  large  illustration  shown  hang- 
ing in  the  picture  on  page  232.  Other  children  constructed  the 
moat,  the  roadway,  the  inclosure  for  the  tournament ;  many 
children  were  engaged  in  constructing  the  pavilions  on  the  right 
for  the  king  and  queen  and  the  lords  and  ladies.  The  costumes 
for  the  doll  characters  called  for  considerable  knowledge  and  in- 
genuity. The  periods  for  manual  training  and  for  history  for  about 
one  week  centered  in  this  project. 

The  picture  illustrates  clarifying  and  vitalizing  children's  ideas 
of  history  through  the  utilization  of  their  interests  in  romance, 
adventure,  manipulation,  artistic  expression,  and  imitative  play. 


Courtesy  ol  The  University  of  Chicago  Elementary  School 

VARIED  RESULTS  OF  WORK  ON  SAME  TOPIC  BY  DIFFERENT  CLASSES, 

ILLUSTRATED     BY     COMPARING    THIS     PICTURE     WITH     THOSE    ON 

PAGES  8  AND  230 

See  story  on  opposite  page 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     233 

paper,  weaving,  modeling  in  clay,  tossing,  catching,  running, 
skipping,  clapping,  marching,  etc.  were  used  as  the  basis  of 
giving  social  training  and  training  in  expression.  Gradually 
kindergarten  activities  have  found  their  way  into  the  primary 
grades,  where  they  are  used  in  the  same  manner  ;  that  is,  not 
only  to  give  training  in  manipulation,  marching,  etc.,  but  to 
provide  interesting  forms  of  self-activity  for  children  in  learn- 
ing reading,  arithmetic,  nature  study,  history,  and  geography. 
Even  as  high  as  the  fourth  grade,  as  described  in  the  ex- 
ample on  pages  13-17,  basket- weaving  may  be  carried  on 
as  a  means  of  teaching  certain  facts  about  industry.  Other 
examples  of  the  use  of  physical  activity  in  teaching  other 
matters  than  bodily  skill  are  the  following : 

1 i )  Making  a  miniature  farm  in  the  first  grade  as  described 
above  on  page  135. 

(2)  Making  Indian  dresses,  weaving  Indian  rugs,  making 
bows  and  arrows,  etc.  as  shown  in  the  picture  on  page  132. 

(3)  Twirling  wool  in  an  effort  to  make  thread,  using  vari- 
ous simple  mechanical  devices  in  connection  with  a  study  of 
shepherd  life  as  shown  on  page  14. 

(4)  Making   Viking  and    Saxon   villages   as   shown    on 
pages  138  and  185. 

(5)  Cutting  paper  dolls  and  dressing  them  in  tissue-paper 
clothing    to    represent    types    of   dress   worn    by   different 
persons  studied  in  Greek  history. 

Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page — The  poorly  focused  but 
instructive  picture  on  page  232,  when  considered  in  connection 
with  the  pictures  on  pages  8  and  230,  illustrates  the  varied  out- 
comes from  the  planning  by  different  groups  of  children  in  the 
same  grade  with  the  same  topic.  It  is  this  planning,  this  histori- 
cal and  constructional  thinking,  that  furnishes  the  most  valuable 
features  of  these  projects.  The  actual  construction  is  a  compara- 
tively simple  matter  for  the  subdivided  labor  of  a  group  of 
children  who  have  had  some  little  training  in  working  with  clay, 
plasticine,  cardboard,  costumes,  and  colors. 


234       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

(6)  Modeling  an  irrigation  system  as  shown  on  page  186, 
and  representations  of  scenes  in  Roman  life  as  shown  on 
page  184. 

(7)  Constructing  castles  in  studying  medieval  history  as 
shown  in  the  pictures  on  pages  8,  230,  and  232. 

8.  Collecting  instinct.  —  The  tendency  to  collect  simply 
for  the  fun  of  collecting  is  another  instinct  whose  strength 
is  easily  recognized  from  common  observation.  It  appears 
in  the  tendency  of  children  to  collect  tags,  coupons,  stamps, 
dolls,  postcards,  and  objects  of  every  description.  Among 
adults  we  find  the  tendency  manifested  in  the  collection  of 
curios,  books,  works  of  art,  etc.  The  tendency  varies  enor- 
mously between  individuals,  some  making  practically  no 
collections,  while  others  devote  years  to  collecting  a  single 
type  of  object,  such  as  books  or  jewels.  The  general  social 
interest  in  collections  is  shown  in  the  popularity  of  museums 
of  art  and  natural  history  and  in  fairs  and  expositions. 

In  school  the  collecting  tendency  is  first  utilized  in  having 
children  bring  single  objects  to  illustrate  or  contribute  to 
some  group  activity ;  for  example,  in  the  kindergarten  each 
child  may  be  asked  to  bring  an  American  flag  on  a  holi- 
day, or  to  bring  some  empty  box,  as  a  cocoa  box,  to  use  in 
the  play  store. 

Individual  collections  may  early  be  started  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  teacher,  particularly  in  the  form  of  pasted  scrap- 
books  made  of  manila  paper.  Thus  in  the  course  of  study 
described  on  pages  135-139  the  first-grade  children  made  a 
Farm  Book,  the  third-grade  children  made  a  Chicago  Book,  etc. 

A  most  elaborate  and  instructive  example  of  such  pasted 
collections  occurred  in  the  work  of  a  teacher  during  one 
year  in  Grades  3  A  and  4  B.  During  this  year  she  assisted  the 
children  each  to  make  a  Boat  Book,  a  Greek  History  Book, 
a  Book  of  North  American  Pictures,  a  Book  of  Fur-Bearing 
Animals,  and  a  Poem  Book.  Each  child's  Boat  Book  con- 
tained postcards  and  pictures  cut  by  him  from  magazines  and 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     235 

steamship  folders.  The  North  American  Book  of  Travel  and 
Industry  was  also  an  individual  product  of  each  child's  labors 
and  illustrated  imaginary  trips  to  Florida,  California,  the 
Canadian  Rockies,  etc.,  and  the  great  industries  of  farming, 
grazing,  mining,  and  manufacturing.  The  Greek  History 
Book  contained  material  developed  in  class  or  provided  by 
the  teacher,  and  included  pictures  of  Greek  scenes,  poems 
about  the  Greeks,  paper  dolls  dressed  in  Greek  costume, 
and  compositions  by  the  children. 

The  making  of  any  one  of  these  scrapbooks  resembles 
an  important  part  of  the  activity  in  writing  such  a  book  as 
this  one.  If  the  reader  will  run  rapidly  through  it,  he  will 
notice  that  it  consists  largely  of  collections  of  four  kinds  of 
materials ;  namely,  examples  of  school-teaching,  pictures, 
quotations  from  other  writers,  and  exact  bibliographical  ref- 
erences. These  are  tied  together  by  the  general  discussion. 
The  collection  of  these  materials  occupied  more  of  my  time 
than  the  actual  writing  of  the  book. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  collecting  instinct  and  activity  which 
is  such  a  prominent  feature  of  human  nature  may  be  utilized 
as  the  basis  of  interest  in  many  practical  activities  in  or 
out  of  school. 

9.  Imitative  play  reproduces  social  activities  in  kinder- 
garten ;  dramatization.  —  An  important  complex  of  instinc- 
tive tendencies  is  suggested  by  the  term  "  imitative  play." 
Playing  house,  playing  store,  playing  with  dolls,  and  play- 
ing fireman  and  policeman  are  common  and  useful  exam- 
ples. The  imitative  feature  in  such  cases  is  obvious ;  the 
children,  in  play,  are  carrying  on  activities  which  resemble 
those  of  other  persons  whom  they  have  observed.  The 
children's  activities  are  called  play  because  they  are  doing 
them  for  the  fun  of  the  thing,  for  the  pleasure  which  comes 
from  the  activity  itself. 

The  educational  possibilities  of  these  plays  as  used  in  the 
kindergarten  were  suggested  in  the  statement  concerning 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     237 

the  aims  of  kindergarten  activities  on  page  18,  where  it 
was  stated  that  they  give  training  in  social  and  moral 
relations,  in  problem  solving,  in  expression,  in  aesthetic  en- 
joyment, and  in  manual  skill.  The  actual  use  of  a  play 
house,  a  play  grocery  store,  and  other  community  buildings 
in  order  to  secure  these  forms  of  training  was  described  on 
pages  126-127.  Under  the  name  of  dramatization,  imita- 
tive plays  are  extensively  used  in  teaching  primary  reading 
and  history.  Pictures  of  dramatic  projects  are  shown  on 
pages  134,  136,  236,  238,  and  240. 

Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page The  third-grade  chil- 
dren shown  in  this  picture  have  been  studying  the  early  history 
of  Chicago  as  described  on  page  137.  In  this  connection  they 
constructed  a  little  play  centering  around  some  of  the  incidents 
in  the  life  of  Chicago's  pioneers.  In  making  their  play  they 
chose  the  situations  which  they  desired  to  use  from  "  The  Story 
of  Chicago,"  devised  the  necessary  action,  dictated  the  dialogue, 
elected  the  actors,  secured  some  of  the  costumes  from  the  school's 
costume  box  and  made  others,  practiced  the  play  a  few  times, 
and  then  presented  it  to  the  assembled  grades  at  morning  exer- 
cises as  shown  in  the  picture.  Such  a  project  may  consume  the 
time  of  the  periods  for  history  and  language  for  two  or  three 
weeks.  Usually  a  class  undertakes  only  one  or  two  such  projects 
during  the  year.  The  picture  illustrates  vitalizing  the  study  of 
history  and  training  in  problem  solving  and  in  oral,  written,  and 
dramatic  expression.  It  also  illustrates  the  utilization  of  children's 
interests  in  adventure,  communication,  imitative  or  dramatic  play, 
and  emulation.  The  last  appears  in  "  trying  out  "  various  children 
for  the  several  characters.  It  also  illustrates  provision  for  individ- 
ual differences,  since  a  variety  of  talents  are  called  for,  and  children 
who  may  not  succeed  well  in  certain  abstract  phases  of  school 
work  may  "  star  "  in  such  a  project  as  that  shown  in  the  picture. 

The  picture  illustrates  also  the  matter  of  schoolrooms  and  equip- 
ment. Notice  the  small  stage  with  simple,  solid-color  flies  overhead, 
the  screens  for  walls,  the  stock  fireplace,  the  spinning  wheel  from 
the  school  museum,  and  the  costumes  from  the  school  costume  box. 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     239 

10.  Interest  in  games.  Illustrated  by  popularity  of  sport- 
ing page.  —  The  interest  in  games  is  another  complex  of 
instinctive  tendencies  which  is  a  striking  feature  of  human 
nature,  not  only  of  children  but  also  of  adults.  To  appreciate 
this  fact  one  has  only  to  recall  the  intense  interest  in  base- 
ball, football,  tennis,  golf,  bowling,  wrestling,  prize-fighting, 
card-playing,  and  the  sporting  page  of  newspapers.  Rich 
and  poor  alike  are  enthusiastic.  The  interest  of  the  well-to- 
do  and  better-educated  classes  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  leading  daily  papers  which  cater  especially  to 
these  classes  maintain  as  one  of  their  principal  features 
especially  strong  sport  departments,  including  some  of  the 
highest-priced  writers  in  the  country. 

Children's  interests  in  games  used  to  improve  drill.  —  The 
interest  of  children  in  games  is  proverbial.  As  in  the  case 
of  imitative  play,  kindergartens  and  primary  grades  now  use 

Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page.  —  The  dramatic  scene 
shown  in  this  picture  was  prepared  in  the  same  general  manner 
as  described  at  the  bottom  of  page  237.  In  this  case,  however, 
the  fourth-grade  children  were  studying  Roman  history  and 
constructed  their  play  around  the  struggles  between  the  Horatii 
and  the  Curiatii.  The  costumes  in  this  case  are  easily  made 
from  cheesecloth,  crepe  paper,  or  other  simple  materials.  Some 
of  them  are  found  in  the  school's  costume  box.  Some  of  the 
practical-minded,  adventurous  boys  of  the  class,  who  show  very 
little  interest  in  school,  may  become  keenly  interested  in  making 
the  weapons  used  in  this  scene  and  in  taking  part  in  the  combats. 
This  interest  may  be  extended  to  reading  the  history  in  order 
that  the  weapons  and  action  may  be  historically  accurate.  This 
play  was  prepared  for  the  spring  festival  held  in  the  school 
garden.  No  effort  is  made  to  secure  a  finished  performance  of 
elaborate  costuming.  After  the  teachers  and  children  have  had 
a  little  experience  with  such  performances,  they  take  only  a  few 
hours  (that  is,  the  history  and  language  periods  for  two>  or  three 
weeks)  to  finish  the  task,  from  the  study  of  the  historical  situation 
to  final  presentation  before  the  assembled  school. 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     241 

games  to  teach  many  useful  facts  and  activities.  Above  the 
primary  grades,  games  are  used  chiefly  for  drill,  which,  as  a 
consequence,  has  become  the  phase  of  school  work  in  which 
we  often  find  the  most  intense  interest.  If  I  were  asked  to 
name  the  one  feature  of  school  work  below  the  sixth  grade 
in  which  I  have  seen  pupils  most  eager  and  attentive,  I 
should  mention  pure  abstract  drill  games  in  arithmetic,  abso- 
lutely unmotived  by  any  other  interest  than  that  of  the  game. 
One  example  was  described  on  page  208.  Another  example 
is  the  following  from  a  second  grade.  The  teacher  has  written 
on  the  board  the  following  combinations  to  be  added  : 

12  12  12  12  II  12  12  II  II 

_7_4_9j$_l_3^^5_9 

A  guessing  game  is  played  as  follows :  One  child  thinks 
of  one  of  the  sums  and  says,  "  I  am  thinking  of  a  number." 
Another  child  runs  to  the  board,  takes  a  pointer,  and  choos- 
ing any  combination  gives  the  sum  by  asking,  in  case  he 
points  at  the  first  one,  "Is  it  19?"  and  so  on  until  he 
picks  out  the  one  which  the  first  child  had  in  mind.  A 
skilled  teacher  with  a  pack  of  large  printed  cards  contain- 
ing numbers,  or  words,  or  phonic  syllables  can  stand  before 
a  class  and  conduct  with  children  an  educative  drill  game 

Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page.  —  This  picture  illustrates 
the  same  general  points  in  teaching  as  do  those  on  pages  236  and 
238.  In  this  picture  second-grade  children  are  shown  presenting 
a  little  play  based  on  the  Arabian  story  of  Tellah  in  Jennie  Hall's 
"  The  Weavers  and  Other  Workers."  The  latter  book  is  read  in  con- 
nection with  the  study  of  shepherd  life  as  indicated  in  the  course  of 
study  described  on  page  137.  Naturally  the  whole  technique  of 
constructing  and  presenting  the  play  in  the  second  grade  is.  much 
simpler  than  in  the  case  of  the  third  grade  described  on  page  237 
or  the  fourth  grade  described  on  page  239.  These  pictures  illus- 
trate the  utilization  of  children's  interests  in  adventure,  communi- 
cation, and  imitative  play  as  a  means  of  vitalizing  and  clarifying 
their  ideas  of  social  activities,  and  of  interesting  them  in  reading. 


242       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

which  equals  in  zest  and  interest  any  baseball  game  or 
"  Ring-around-a-Rosy "  game  that  children  ever  enacted 
themselves,  and  the  drill  games  have  no  other  practical 
motive  for  the  children  than  have  these  common  games. 

Summary  of  discussion  of  special  instinctive  interests.  — 
This  will  conclude  our  discussion  of  the  special  instinctive 
interests  of  children  which  have  been  used  or  are  being  used 
to  keep  pupils  in  a  frame  of  mind  favorable  to  learning. 
We  noticed  that  fear  of  physical  pain  and  fear  of  sarcasm 
and  ridicule  have  been  discarded  not  only  for  humanitarian 
reasons  but  because  they  arouse  an  unfavorable  condition  of 
forced  divided  attention.  In  place  of  these  we  find  Rous- 
seau's humanitarian  psychological  program  of  child  study 
resulting  in  the  use  of  the  common  instinctive  interests  in 
adventure,  romance,  actions  of  animals  and  people,  social 
approval,  rhythm,  rime,  jingle  and  song,  puzzles,  prob- 
lems, mental  activity,  communication,  manipulation,  physical 
activity,  collecting,  imitative  play,  and  games. 

Children  learn  to  work  effectively  through  interesting 
activities.  —  These  active  tendencies,  strivings,  and  cravings 
of  children,  which  we  call  their  interests,  are  utilized  or 
directed  so  as  to  get  the  worth-while  tasks  of  the  school  ac- 
complished energetically,  effectively,  and  economically ;  they 
are  not  used  merely  to  pamper  the  children  or  to  amuse 
them.  Through  carrying  out  the  strivings  which  these 
interests  involve,  the  children  learn  to  work  for  more  and 
more  remote  ends  and  purposes.  For  example,  they  begin 
reading  with  stories  of  their  own  pets,  or  stories  of  other 
animals.  As  their  vocabulary  grows,  they  attack  more  and 
more  difficult  reading  to  get  the  stories  contained.  They 
are  assisted  in  mastering  and  remembering  the  vocabulary 
through  drill  games.  As  they  acquire  skill  in  reading,  near 
the  fourth  grade,  their  interest  in  problems  and  in  commu- 
nication is  utilized  to  get  them  to  read  widely  in  order  to 
bring  pertinent  evidence  and  information  to  be  presented 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     243 

to  the  class.  In  this  wide  reading,  their  collecting  instinct 
may  be  appealed  to  and  result  in  training  in  gathering 
pictures,  quotations,  and  other  useful  information  from  many 
sources.  At  the  end  of  the  training  they  have  become 
skilled  silent  readers  and  more  or  less  expert  workers  with 
books.  They  have  been  prepared  to  work  effectively  through 
activities,  which,  in  the  beginning  in  the  kindergarten  and 
first  grade,  are  predominantly  play,  but  which  gradually  take 
on  the  character  of  working  for  more  and  more  remote  ends 
as  the  pupils  progress  through  the  grades. 

Pupils,  cowboys,  artists,  executives,  etc.  may  enjoy  their 
work  as  a  game.  —  Such  work,  however,  at  all  stages  may 
possess  the  playful  characteristic  of  being  fun  in  itself, 
of  being  intensely  interesting  at  each  stage.  This  is  true 
also  of  much  of  the  work  of  the  world  in  which  many 
teachers,  writers,  artists,  speakers,  mechanics,  cowboys, 
professional  soldiers  and  sailors,  politicians,  administrators, 
managers,  and  other  kinds  of  workers  are  carried  along,  not 
by  a  sense  of  duty,  but,  to  use  a  common  expression,  because 
they  "like  the  game" — they  can't  give  it  up.  Unfortunately, 
some  workers  do  not  take  to  their  jobs  in  this  spirit,  but 
they  are  generally  recognized  as  the  less  fortunate  class. 
Certainly  from  the  standpoint  of  creating  favorable  conditions 
for  learning  in  school,  which  is  the  topic  of  this  part  of  the 
text,  it  is  much  more  economical  and  effective  to  create  for 
pupils  situations  in  which  they  attack  their  work  with  the 
same  zest  and  interest  as  do  the  great  workers  of  the  world 
who  "  enjoy  the  game." 

Work  of  life  which  involves  learning  may  be  intensely 
interesting.  —  Another  important  point  to  consider  in  com- 
paring the  work  of  the  school  with  the  work  of  the  world 
is  that  the  latter  may  be  divided  into  (i)  activities  in  which 
new  situations  and  nezv  problems  are  continually  arising,  and 
(2)  activities  which  are  repeated  with  routine  uniformity 
from  day  to  day.  Many  of  the  workers  noted  in  the 


244       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

preceding  paragraph  are  engaged  largely  in  the  first  type 
of  activities,  in  which  the  novelty  and  variety  of  experiences 
help  to  make  the  work  interesting.  However,  any  kind  of 
job  or  activity  may,  in  the  different  stages  in  learning 
it,  illustrate  this  same  contrast  between  (i)  novelty  and 
(2)  routine  sameness.  Thus,  cooking  may  be  fascinating  to 
a  young  housewife  when  she  is  learning  it,  but  after  she  has 
mastered  all  the  recipes  which  she  can  devise  or  afford,  it  may 
become  humdrum  monotony.  Similarly,  a  stenographer's  job 
may  be  quite  interesting  while  she  is  learning  the  work  in  a 
new  office,  but  after  she  has  written  and  filed  the  same  type  of 
formal  material  day  after  day  it  may  become  dull  and  dead. 
Now,  to  which  of  these  working  situations  in  life  should  we 
compare  the  work  of  the  school  —  to  the  interesting  process 
of  learning  a  new  job  or  to  the  humdrum  routine  of  a  job 
that  is  so  monotonously  the  same  that  it  has  lost  all  interest 
and  become  drudgery  ?  Obviously,  since  the  school's  tasks 
are  predominantly  those  in  which  pupils  are  learning  new 
ideas,  meeting  new  situations  and  problems,  and  making 
new  processes  automatic,  we  are  justified  in  comparing  its 
work  with  the  interesting  periods  of  learning  in  life's  work 
instead  of  comparing  it  with  life's  routine  drudgery. 

Interest  in  school  work  does  not  mean  soft  pedagogy ; 
difficulties  are  interesting.  —  Finally,  it  is  perfectly  clear 
from  the  above  examples  that  utilizing  pupils'  interests  in 
order  to  direct  their  energies  along  educational  lines  does 
not  imply  merely  making  studies  easy  for  them.  To  be  sure, 
some  of  the  learning  will  be  easy  and  all  of  it  will  be 
sufficiently  easy  so  that  pupils  can  understand  and  master 
the  material  in  hand.  Otherwise  the  principle  of  appercep- 
tion would  be  violated  and  their  efforts  be  fruitless  and 
wasted.  But  much  of  their  interested  learning  will  present 
difficulties  which  call  forth  their  best  efforts.  This  is 
particularly  true  in  the  case  of  the  interests  in  group  emula- 
tion, problem  solving,  communication,  and  collecting,  which 


INTERESTS  AND  ECONOMY  IN  LEARNING     245 

are  strongly  appealed  to  above  the  primary  grades.  Stimu- 
lated by  these  interests,  a  pupil  may  work  long  and  hard  in 
solving  problems,  formulating  a  composition  or  collecting 
specimens,  pictures,  folders,  maps,  etc. 

Conclusion.  —  The  purpose  of  this  chapter  has  been 
to  show  how  the  educative  and  serious  tasks  of  the  school 
can  be  learned  most  economically  and  effectively  by  utilizing 
children's  active  interests.  From  the  illustration  of  using 
their  interests  in  adventure  stories  as  a  means  of  teaching 
reading  and  history  economically,  we  proceeded  to  the  gen- 
eral points  to  be  considered  in  utilizing  any  specific  interest. 
These  general  aspects  were  summarized  on  page  213  and 
were  followed  by  the  evaluation  of  thirteen  instinctive  tend- 
encies which  have  been  utilized  in  schools,  from  the  fear 
of  physical  pain  to  the  interest  in  games.  These  were  sum- 
marized on  page  242  and  followed  by  an  argument  to  show 
that  school  activities  based  on  these  apparently  playful  in- 
terests may  be  very  much  like  those  phases  of  the  work  of 
the  world  which  present  new  problems  or  situations  from 
day  to  day  in  which  adaptation  or  learning  is  called  for.  In 
the  next  chapter  we  shall  consider  types  of  learning  which 
do  not  involve  new  problems  or  situations  so  much  as  they 
involve  memorizing  or  practice  or  drill  upon  processes  which 
are  already  understood.  Even  in  these  cases,  however,  as 
has  been  frequently  suggested  in  the  present  chapter, 
we  shall  see  how  the  zeal  and  interest  of  pupils  enables 
teachers  to  secure,  after  short  periods  of  drill,  results  that  the 
old-fashioned  schools  failed  to  secure  with  prolonged  periods 
of  uninteresting  grind. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL    NOTES 

For  beginners.  —  i.  DEWEY,  JOHN.  The  School  and  Society.  (The 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  1899;  enlarged,  1915.)  Pp.  59~73,  on 
utilizing  of  children's  instinctive  interests  in  communication,  construction, 
investigation,  and  artistic  expression. 


246        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

2.  FREEMAN,  F.  N.  How  Children  Learn,   (Houghton  Mifflin  Com- 
pany, 1917.)  Pp.  56-1 1 1,  on  instincts  of  play  and  imitation  and  social 
attitudes  in  children. 

3.  JAMES,  WILLIAM.     Talks  to  Teachers.    (Henry  Holt  and  Com- 
pany, 1899.)  Chaps,  vi  and  vii,  on  instincts ;  chaps,  x  and  xi,  on  interest 
and  attention.     Simple,  interesting,  important  chapters  by  America's 
greatest  psychologist. 

4.  KIRKPATRICK,  E.  A.  Fundamentals  of  Child  Study \   (The  Mac- 
millan  Company,  1903.)     Many  valuable  chapters   on   instincts.     See 
especially   chaps,    iv,  viii,   ix,   x,   xii,   xiii.     Read  rapidly  to  pick  up 
suggestions. 

5.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.    Notes  on  Child  Study.   (The  Macmillan  Com- 
pany, 1903.)     Pp.  40-45,  on  instincts;    pp.  154-162,  on  instincts  of 
children  of  kindergarten  age. 

6.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.    Principles  of  Teaching.   (A.  G.  Seller,  1906.) 
Pp.  21-29,  34-38>  51-67,  105-109.    The  most  valuable  and  suggestive 
chapters  written  on  the  utilization  of  children's  instinctive  interests. 
Many  useful  exercises  for  class  discussion.    The  source  of  many  sugges- 
tions found  in  the  present  chapter. 

For  advanced  students.  —  7.  JAMES,  WILLIAM.  Principles  of  Psy- 
chology. (Henry  Holt  and  Company,  1890.)  Vol.  II,  pp.  383-441.  Most 
influential  chapter  written  on  human  instincts.  Interesting  examples  and 
attractive  style. 

8.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.     (a)  Educational  Psychology.    Vol.  I,  The 
Original  Nature  of  Man.    (Teachers  College,  1913.)   The  most  thorough 
and  critical  treatment  of  human  instincts.    See  chap,  xvii,  entitled  The 
Values  and  Use  of  Original  Tendencies,     (b)  See  also  Briefer  Course 
edition  of  the  above  work,  pp.  27-68. 

9.  McDoUGALL,  W.  Social  Psychology.  (John  W.  Luce  &  Company, 
Boston,  1918,  thirteenth  edition.)    Influential  discussion  of  instincts  as 
"  drives  "  in  individual  life  and  social  organization.    Important  bearing 
on  "  motivation." 

10.  WOODWORTH,  R.  S.     Dynamic  Psychology.     (Columbia  Uni- 
versity Press,  1918.)    Chap.  Ill,  especially  pp.  66-76.    Adds  capacities 
as  "  drives."    Important  evaluation  of  "  motivation." 


CHAPTER  X 

DRILL  AND  PRACTICE 
MAKING  RESPONSES  AUTOMATIC  BY  REPETITION 

Main  points  of  the  chapter.  —  i .  Examples  of  drills  with  vocab- 
ulary cards,  fraction  cards,  and  printed  problem  sheets  illustrate 
modern  drill  methods.  With  such  examples  the  following  rules 
are  developed : 

2.  Only  correct  practice  makes  perfect;  therefore, 

a.  Delay  drill  until  a  correct  start  is  assured. 

b.  Always  subordinate  speed  to  accuracy. 

3.  Avoid  wasting  time  on  nonessential  and  accessory  processes. 

4.  Secure   zeal,  interest,  and  concentration  of  attention  with 
short  snappy  drills. 

5.  Use  ready-made  scientifically  organized  drill  systems. 

6.  Continue  drill  until  precise  standard  scores  are  maintained. 

7.  Give  additional  practice  in  using  abstract  forms  and  processes 
in  concrete  situations. 

Five  aspects  of  learning :  self-activity,  apperception, 
preparation,  interest,  drill.  —  Up  to  this  point  in  our  story 
of  how  children  learn  most  effectively  and  economically  we 
have  noted  the  following  points  :  A  pupil  learns  through  his 
own  response  and  activities ;  consequently  the  teacher  must 
be  skilled  in  inferring  what  the  mental  response  of  each 
pupil  is  at  any  moment  and  in  understanding  the  conditions 
which  determine  his  responses.  Among  these  conditions  we 
noted  the  pupil's  past  experiences,  upon  which  the  teacher 
must  build,  and  his  present  frame  of  mind,  which  the  teacher 
must  modify  or  prepare  in  order  to  secure  favorable  mental 
backgrounds  or  attitudes  in  the  pupils.  As  most  important 

247 


24$       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

among  these  attitudes  we  discussed  interests,  which  we 
described  as  strivings,  cravings,  or  active  mental  tendencies 
in  the  pupil  which  should  be  utilized  by  the  teacher.  These 
discussions  of  learning  thus  gave  us  four  principles  of  teach- 
ing ;  namely,  those  of  self-activity,  apperception,  preparation, 
interest.  In  this  chapter  we  shall  take  up  a  fifth  aspect  of 
learning ;  namely,  how  to  make  permanent  and  automatic 
such  particular  responses  as  are  involved  in  correct  spelling 
of  common  words,  legible  and  rapid  handwriting,  correct  and 
rapid  adding,  subtracting,  multiplying  and  dividing,  and  rapid 
recognition  of  words  and  meanings  in  reading. 

Examples  of  greatly  improved  technique  in  drill  lessons. 
-  In  view  of  the  many  recent  improvements  in  the  conduct 
of  drill  lessons  in  the  above  subjects  and  the  definiteness  of 
the  skilled  teacher's  technique,  we  shall  describe  sample  drill 
lessons  in  reading  and  arithmetic  as  an  introduction  to  the 
principles  to  be  observed  in  lessons  involving  drill  or  prac- 
tice. The  first  of  these  lessons  illustrates  the  use  of  drill 
cards  in  teaching  reading. 

Six  tricks  in  first-grade  drills  with  vocabulary  cards.  — 
A  first-grade  teacher,  in  about  the  seventh  week  of  school, 
had  taught   the  children  to  read  a  chart  containing  such 
sentences  as  the  following : 

We  have  two  pets. 
They  are  white  mice,  etc. 

These  sentences  had  been  used  by  the  children  in  telling  about 
their  two  mice.  At  the  present  time  we  are  interested  in  part 
of  the  drill  which  followed  the  reading  of  the  chart  as  a  whole. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  reading  lesson  the  next  day  the 
teacher  had  arranged  on  the  blackboard  ledge  eight  stiff 
cards,  on  each  of  which  was  printed  one  of  the  words  learned 
recently;  namely,  "mice,"  "white,"  "have,"  etc.  The  pupils 
were  seated  in  little  chairs  at  the  front  of  the  room.  The 
lesson  proceeded  as  follows  : 


DRILL  AND  PRACTICE  249 

1.  The  teacher  gathered  the  cards  and,  holding  them  so 
that  the  class  could  see,  said,  "  Here  we  have  some  of  our 
old  words.    Let's  see  if  we  can  name  them."     She  then 
displayed  one  card  after  the  other.    The  class,  whispering, 
named  the  words  in  concert. 

2.  The  class  then  stood  up.    The  teacher  handed  a  child 
a  card.    If  he  named  the  word  successfully,  he  sat  down, 
keeping  the  card  and  holding  it  so  that  the  word  could  be 
seen  from  the  front  of  the  room. 

3.  After  all  the  cards  were  given  out,  each  of  the  chil- 
dren that  still  remained  standing  was  permitted  to  pick,  from 
those  sitting,  a  card  containing  a  word  which  he  could  name 
correctly  and  then  to  be  seated.    Finally  all  were  seated. 

4.  The  teacher  then  said,  "  I  want  the  card  which  says 
'  mice.' '     The  child  having  it  ran  quickly  and  gave  it  to 
the  teacher.    This  was  repeated  until  she  had  all  the  cards. 

5.  The  cards  were  then  redistributed  among  the  children 
by  the  teacher  and  called  for  again  as  in  paragraph  4.    As 
attention  was  beginning  to  flag  slightly,  the  teacher  said,  "  I 
think  some  of  the  children  are  sleepy";  whereupon  these 
children  sat  up  and  paid  attention. 

6.  The  teacher  then  placed  the  cards  in  a  row  on  the 
blackboard    ledge,    the    children    reading    them    quietly   in 
concert  as  each  was  placed. 

7.  The  drill  was  then  concluded  with  the  following  game  : 
A  chosen  child  ran  into  the  cloak  room.    Another  child  ran 
quickly  and  pointed  at  a  word,  for  example,  "mice,"  then 
returned  to  his  seat.    The  child  in  the  cloak  room  returned. 
He  pointed  at  a  word,  for  example,  "  have,"  and  said,  "  Is  it 
'  have  '  ?  "    The  children  replied  in  concert,  "  No."    He  con- 
tinued to  point  at  and  name  words  until  he  said,  "Is  it 
'  mice '  ? "  Whereupon  all  the  children  clapped  their  hands,  and 
he  returned  to  his  seat.    The  game  was  then  repeated  once. 

Eight  words,  six  tricks,  six  minutes,   ten  repetitions  at 
intervals  and  with  attention,  application.  —  After  the  class 


250       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

was  seated  and  ready  for  the  above  drill,  the  total  amount 
of  time  consumed  by  it  was  about  six  minutes.  In  this  brief 
time  six  different  tricks,  stunts,  or  devices  were  used.  The 
necessity  for  this  variety  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  atten- 
tion of  the  little  six-year-olds  began  to  flag  after  the  fifth 
step  in  the  drill.  The  teacher,  consequently,  proceeded 
quickly  to  the  seventh  step,  which  involved  more  physical 
activity  for  some  and  more  interesting  activity  for  all ; 
namely,  watching  to  see  if  the  child  guessed  the  right  word 
and  clapping  their  hands  when  he  did.  By  these  devices, 
each  word  was  attentively  observed  by  most  of  the  children 
at  least  ten  times.  The  observations  of  each  word  were  not 
consecutive  however,  the  attention  having  been  drawn  to 
other  words  in  the  intervals  which  elapsed  between  the 
observations  of  any  given  word.  After  the  drill  had  con- 
cluded with  the  game  which  provided  for  physical  activity, 
the  reading  lesson  was  continued  by  reading  on  the  chart 
the  story  of  their  pets,  in  which  the  words  of  the  drill 
occurred  in  sentences. 

Eleven  points  of  technique  in  fifth-grade  drill  with  frac- 
tion cards.  —  Another  example  of  modern  drill  methods 
which  illustrates  the  fine  technique  that  a  teacher  has  to 
develop  in  using  drill  cards  is  found  in  the  game  with  frac- 
tion cards  described  on  page  208.  The  fifth-grade  teacher 
referred  to  had  a  pack  of  cards  containing  fractions  such  as 

In  carrying  on  the  drill  game  in  multiplying 

these,  each  of  the  following  numbered  points  represents  a 
distinct  item  in  her  technique. 

1.  She  stood  before  the  class  in  such  a  position  that  the 
light  fell  on  the  cards  so  all  the  pupils  could  see  well  and 
none  face  a  window. 

2.  She  appointed  one  boy  to  time  the  game. 

3.  She  wrote  the  multiplier,  for  example,  \,  on  the  black- 
board behind  her. 


DRILL  AND  PRACTICE  251 

4.  She  made  sure  that  all  children  understood  what  they 
were  to  do. 

5.  She  then  said,  "  Ready,  go !  " 

6.  She  flashed  the  first  card,  for  example,  f ,  by  bringing 
it  from  the  back  of  the  pack  to  the  front.    The  first  child 
gave  the  answer  as  quickly  as  he  could  say  it. 

7.  (a)  If  his  answer  was  correct,  she  flashed  the  next  card 
to  the  front  of  the  pack,    (b]  If  his  answer  was  incorrect, 
the  next  child  gave  the  answer,  the  card  was  dropped  on 
the  desk  for  future  use,  and  the  next  card  flashed. 

8.  This  process  continued  around  the  class  until  the  whole 
pack  of  cards  was  used. 

9.  She  then  picked  up  from  the  desk  the  cards  to  which 
incorrect  answers  had  been  given,  and  flashed  them  again, 
calling  on  the  pupils  who  had  missed  them  if  she  could 
remember  without  hesitation  who  they  were. 

10.  She  then  asked  the  timekeeper  for  the  time  con- 
sumed and  wrote  it  on  the  board,  for  example,  "  3  min.  30  sec.," 
under  the  record  of  the  previous  day  for  the  same  pack  of 
cards,  and  opposite  the  record  of  "  3  min.  25  sec."  made 
by  another  group  of  children. 

1 1 .  She  concluded  with  remarks  intended  to  arouse  inter- 
est in  improving  the  record  until  it  equaled  a  standard  score, 
such  as  three  minutes  for  this  pack. 

Six  minutes,  fifty  problems,  zeal  and  attention,  applica- 
tion. —  The  total  amount  of  time  consumed  in  this  drill  in 
getting  the  class  ready,  flashing  the  cards,  writing  the  record 
on  the  board,  and  making  remarks  about  it  was  about  six 
minutes.  During  this  period  nearly  every  child  in  the  group 
of  twenty-two  was  called  on  three  times,  and  the  total  number 
of  problems  correctly  worked  was  about  fifty.  Practically  every 
child  was  attentive  to  each  of  these  because  of  the  intense 
interest  in  improving  the  score.  After  this  drill,  problems  of 
areas,  requiring  the  use  of  fractions  in  square  measure, 
were  assigned. 


252        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

From  group  practice  to  individual  practice.  —  Both  of  the 
examples  of  drill  method  given  above  illustrate  group  recita- 
tions in  which  the  whole  class  gives  attention  to  a  common 
center.  We  shall  now  give  two  examples  in  which  the 
children  work  as  individuals. 

Addition  combinations  to  9  +  g  to  be  said  in  thirty  seconds. 
—  Our  first  example  of  individual  drill  occurs  in  the  third 
grade  where  children  memorize  for  rapid  oral  reproduction 
all  the  forty-five  addition  combinations  up  to  9  +  9.  These 
are  all  printed  or  mimeographed  on  a  sheet  of  paper,  in 
mixed  order,  making  five  rows  similar  to  the  following : 

573984672 
246713913 

A  copy  of  the  sheet  is  given  to  each  child  after  the  teacher 
is  sure  that  the  combinations  are  generally  understood.  The 
technique  in  this  case  is  also  somewhat  complex.  The  ulti- 
mate achievement  expected  of  each  child  is  ability  to  give 
orally  the  answers  to  all  the  combinations  in  any  order  on 
the  chart,  up  or  down,  from  left  to  right  or  right  to  left,  in 
thirty  seconds.  Every  day  some  children  are  given  trials  and 
their  records  kept ;  for  example,  a  child  may  in  the  beginning 
require  forty-five  seconds,  decrease  rapidly  in  a  few  days  to 
thirty-seven  seconds,  but  not  reach  the  desired  goal  of  thirty 
seconds  for  many  days.  Practice  is  given  by  concert  drills 
and  individual  drills  in  school,  and  the  children  are  urged  to 
repeat  the  answers  to  someone  at  home  who  will  time  them 
and  correct  them. 

Systematic  and  thorough ;  saves  time  from  useless  re- 
sponses ;  analyses  and  corrects  wrong  inner  responses.  — 
The  outcome  of  the  device  is  automatic  skill  in  using 
rapidly  these  combinations  in  problems  involving  addition. 
The  device  is  systematic  and  thorough  in  achieving  this 
end,  since  it  gives  drill  on  all  these  combinations.  It  saves 
time  in  many  ways.  For  example,  it  eliminates  the  time 
consumed  in  the  old-fashioned  drills  by  the  teacher's  saying, 


DRILL  AND  PRACTICE  253 

"What  is  9  and  6,  Johnny?"  and  waiting  for  Johnny  to 
wake  up  and  reply.  It  saves  Johnny  the  time  of  saying 
"9  and  6  are."  He  merely  says  "fifteen"  as  quickly  as  he 

can  when  he  sees  ^  on  the  paper.  Moreover,  in  Johnny's 
after  life  it  saves  him  from  saying  "9  and  6"  thousands 
of  times ;  instead,  when  he  encounters  2  in  an  addition 

problem  he  merely  thinks  "fifteen,"  just  as  he  thinks  "cat" 
when  he  sees  the  word,  instead  of  thinking  "c-a-t."  In  order 
to  make  sure  that  each  child  does  read  off  each  answer  in 
this  automatic  way,  without  going  through  some  roundabout 
process,  the  teacher  has  to  make  a  careful  study  of  the 
children  who  are  slow  in  learning  to  repeat  the  combinations 
in  the  desired  time.  For  example,  one  such  child  was  found 

who,  when  adding  " ,  instead  of  merely  recalling  the  answer, 

16,  thought  of  it  as  follows  :  9  +  2  +  2  +  2  +  1  =  16.  The 
teacher  had  to  break  up  this  habit  and  get  the  child  to 

9 

think  automatically     7. 
76 

Printed  sheets  of  problems  for  fundamental  processes ; 
timed  tests,  individual  practice,  self-correction,  individual 
advancement.  —  The  second  example  of  individual  drills  is 
an  elaborate  extension  of  the  above  type  of  device  to  the 
working  of  all  kinds  of  problems  in  adding,  subtracting, 
multiplying,  and  dividing  ;  the  problems  being  printed  on 
sheets  or  cards  ready  to  be  distributed  to  the  pupils.  For 
example,  each  pupil  may  be  given  a  sheet  or  card  printed 
full  of  such  problems  in  addition  as  the  following : 


643 
587 
1  2  6 


254        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

All  he  has  to  do  is  to  write  the  answers  as  rapidly  as  he 
can  on  transparent  paper  or  through  holes  which  are  perfo- 
rated in  the  problem  card.  He  does  not  begin  to  write  until 
the  teacher  gives  the  signal  for  the  whole  class  to  begin.  At 
the  end  of  seven  minutes  the  signal  may  be  given  to  stop. 
All  pupils  then  cease  work.  They  may  turn  the  problem 
cards  over  to  compare  their  answers  with  the  correct  ones, 
which  may  be  printed  on  the  back  of  the  cards,  or  they  may 
use  some  other  device  for  self-correction.  Each  pupil  makes 
a  record  of  the  number  of  problems  which  he  has  right.  If 
he  has  completed  all  the  problems  correctly,  in  the  allotted 
time,  he  is  given  a  different  card  of  problems  to  work  next 
time.  The  children  who  do  not  have  satisfactory  scores  on 
the  first  card  may  practice  on  it  during  study  periods  until 
the  next  timed  test  on  it  is  given,  when  they  are  tested  on 
it  again,  at  the  same  time  that  other  pupils  are  tested  on 
the  lessons  to  which  they  have  progressed. 

Elaborate  systems  organized  by  authors  and  publishers  ; 
elaborate  routine  instituted  by  teacher.  —  It  is  obvious  that 
this  scheme  which  provides  many  sheets  of  printed  prob- 
lems and  permits  different  pupils  to  progress  at  different 
rates  and  work  with  different  sheets  is  much  more  elaborate 
than  the  other  examples  of  drill  devices  which  we  described. 
It  involves,  in  the  first  place,  elaborate  printed  materials,  — 
printed  sheets  or  cards  of  problems  which  have  been  care- 
fully devised  so  as  to  give  drill  on  all  combinations  and 
operations.  This,  however,  is  not  a  task  that  confronts  the 
teacher,  as  it  has  already  been  performed  by  the  authors 
and  textbook  companies.  The  teacher's  task  is  to  accustom 
herself  and  the  pupils  to  the  routine  which  is  completely 
described  in  the  teacher's  manual  that  accompanies  the 
drill  materials.  As  indicated  in  the  chapter  on  economy  in 
classroom  management,  however,  this  need  present  no  special 
difficulties,  since  the  most  elaborate  routine  can  easily  be 
taught  to  children  if  the  teacher  will  take  the  trouble.  This 


DRILL  AND  PRACTICE  255 

type  of  drill  exercise  calls,  however,  not  only  for  elaborate 
routine  organization  but  also  for  careful  attention  to  the 
individual  needs  of  pupils.  Thus  it  saves  much  time  in  two 
ways:  first,  by  having  printed  problems  at  hand,  so  that 
pupils  spend  most  of  their  time  in  arithmetical  thinking  in- 
stead of  fooling  it  away  in  copying  problems ;  and,  second, 
by  permitting  pupils  to  cease  drill  on  processes  which  they 
have  already  made  perfectly  automatic  and  to  spend  their 
time  on  other  assignments. 

Examples  introduce  to  principles  of  drill.  — The  four  ex- 
amples of  modern  drill  methods  which  we  have  described  — 
namely,  first-grade  drill  with  vocabulary  cards  in  reading, 
fifth-grade  drill  with  fraction  cards,  third-grade  oral  drill  with 
a  chart  of  addition  combinations,  and  systematic  written  drill 
in  the  middle  grades  with  ready-made  printed  sheets  of 
problems  —  serve  to  familiarize  us  sufficiently  with  concrete 
schoolroom  drill  situations  to  enable  us  to  understand  easily 
the  general  principles  of  teaching  to  be  followed  in  organ- 
izing effective  drill  lessons.  These  principles  we  shall  now 
consider  systematically. 

i .  Only  correct  practice  makes  perfect.  —  Our  first  prin- 
ciple of  drill  is  that  "  only  correct  practice  makes  perfect  "  ; 
therefore  "  make  haste  slowly  "  and  try  to  make  sure  that 
children  are  making  the  correct  inner  responses  in  their 
practice.  This  principle  may  be  formulated  in  two  rules : 
namely, 

a.  Repetitions  should  be  delayed  until  a  correct  start  is 
assured. 

b.  Always  subordinate  speed  to  accuracy. 
These  rules  may  be  explained  as  follows : 

a.  Correct  start  should  precede  repetitions.  —  In  our 
chapter  on  apperception  we  gave  examples  of  the  observation 
and  violation  of  the  rule  concerning  a  correct  start.  One 
example  concerned  the  children  who  could  recite  a  rigmarole 
of  number  names  but  could  not  count  objects.  They  had 


256        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

memorized  meaningless  words  but  had  not  had  the  correct 
initial  experience  of  actually  counting  and  of  associating  the 
number  names  with  real  quantities.  In  our  account  of  the 
first-grade  drill  lesson  in  reading,  in  the  present  chapter, 
we  indicated  that  the  teacher  had  made  the  correct  start  in 
preceding  lessons  by  having  children  read  sentences  which 
expressed  their  ideas  about  their  pets.  Only  after  these 
sentences  were  understood  and  the  words  in  them  identified 
was  the  abstract  drill  given  with  the  same  words  on  cards. 
Similarly,  we  could  show  how  the  fraction  drill  had  been 
preceded  by  many  carefully  conducted  lessons,  in  which  the 
processes  of  multiplying  fractions  had  been  made  clear  to 
the  pupils.  Finally,  in  the  complicated  written  practice  in 
adding,  subtracting,  multiplying,  and  dividing,  described 
above,  the  correct  start  is  thorough  knowledge  of  the  funda- 
mental combinations  and  operations,  of  addition  combinations 
and  operations,  etc.  Unless  a  pupil  understands  these  ele- 
mentary combinations  and  operations  he  cannot  make 
effective  progress  with  complex  problems  involving  them. 
b.  Subordinate  speed  to  accuracy.  —  The  rule  concerning 
subordinating  speed  to  accuracy  is  particularly  important  in 
arithmetic  and  handwriting,  where  both  factors  are  greatly 
emphasized  at  the  present  time.  Until  recently  speed  was 
often  neglected  in  both  arithmetic  and  handwriting,  but 
examination  of  the  use  of  these  subjects  in  life  shows  that 
pupils  need  to  be  trained  to  cipher  and  write  not  only 
correctly  but  also  at  fair  speed.  As  a  consequence,  speed  is 
now  an  aim  in  all  drills,  as  illustrated  in  the  limit  of  thirty 
seconds  set  for  third-grade  children  with  the  addition  com- 
binations up  to  9  +  9,  and  the  careful  timing  in  the  fraction 
drill  described  above.  These  speed  goals  or  time  goals  assist 
in  teaching  in  two  ways  :  first,  they  set  certain  definite, 
precise  standards  for  the  teacher  and  pupils  to  strive  for, 
and,  second,  they  interest  and  stimulate  the  pupils.  But  in 
striving  to  attain  speed  without  careful  regard  to  accuracy, 


DRILL  AND  PRACTICE  257 

unfortunate  consequences  may  follow.  In  the  first  place  the 
responses  of  the  pupils  may  be  incorrect — in  arithmetic 
the  answers  being  wrong  and  in  handwriting  the  letters 
being  illegible.  In  the  second  place  very  unfavorable 
nervous  mental  conditions  are  brought  about  in  many  chil- 
dren. Hence  we  find  the  author  of  one  of  the  well-known 
practice  systems  in  arithmetic  saying, 

The  surest  sign  of  faulty  use  of  the  practice  tests  is  the  speed 
that  is  due  to  excessive  effort  and  nervous  strain.  The  speed  that 
is  desired  is  the  perfection  of  execution  produced  by  thoroughness 
of  preparation.  The  speed  that  is  merely  hurry  makes  for  ex- 
haustion. Do  not  force  speed.  Inspire  conscientious  practice  and 
the  question  of  speed  will  take  care  of  itself.  (5  (<f) :  4) 

2.  Do  not  waste  time  on  nonessential  or  accessory  proc- 
esses. —  Perhaps  the  most  striking  feature  of  the  improved 
technique  in  modern  drill  lessons  is  the  amount  of  time 
saved  by  eliminating  unnecessary  movements  and  processes. 
A  simple  illustration  occurred  in  the  first-grade  reading  drill 
with  cards,  in  which  the  seating  of  the  children  in  little 
chairs  in  two  compact  semicircles  around  the  teacher,  near 
the  blackboard  ledge,  enabled  the  teacher  quickly  to  hand  a 
card  to  each  child  and  enabled  the  children  to  exchange 
cards  and  run  up  to  the  blackboard  ledge  with  little  waste 
of  time.  Similarly,  saving  time  was  clearly  illustrated  in  the 
fraction-card  drill,  in  the  third-grade  addition  drill,  and  in 
the  drills  with  printed  practice  problems  described  above. 
With  the  fraction-drill  cards,  fifty  fraction  problems  could 
be  worked  in  a  few  minutes  by  all  pupils,  because  the 
teacher  did  not  have  to  state  the  problem,  or  call  a  pupil  by 
name,  and  the  pupil  had  nothing  to  do  but  (i)  keep  in  mind 
the  multiplier  written  on  the  board,  (2)  take  in  at  a  glance 
the  fraction  on  the  flashed  card,  (3)  think  the  answer, 
(4)  speak  the  answer.  The  first  three  of  these  processes 
of  the  pupil  constitute  the  essential  arithmetical  thinking 


258        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

processes  in  which  we  want  to  give  him  training.  Everything 
else,  such  as  getting  the  problems  ready,  stating  them  to  the 
class,  and  calling  on  pupils,  is  accessory.  The  more  we  can 
simplify  these  accessory  processes,  the  greater  the  time 
available  for  arithmetical  thinking. 

3.  Arouse  zeal,  interest,  and  concentration  of  attention. 
-  The  general  importance  of  zeal  and  interest  as  the  basis 
of  economy  in  learning  was  emphasized  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  There  the  special  value  of  the  interest  in  com- 
petitive games  in  drills  was  illustrated  on  page  208  as  well 
as  in  the  examples  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  chapter. 
The  use  of  several  other  instinctive  interests,  particularly 
the  interests  in  guessing  games,  in  physical  activity,  and  in 
novelty  or  variety,  was  illustrated  in  the  first-grade  reading 
lesson  described  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  chapter. 

Variety  particularly  important  for  small  children.  —  The 
necessity  of  variety  in  the  drills  for  little  children  is  particu- 
larly noteworthy.  As  indicated  in  the  account  of  the  read- 
ing drill,  the  attention  of  the  six-year-old  children  began  to 
flag  after  the  drill  had  continued  for  a  very  few  minutes 
and  the  teacher  had  to  conclude  with  the  guessing  game, 
which  provided  more  physical  activity  as  well  as  a  more  in- 
teresting common  center  of  attention  for  all  the  group.  As 
the  children  grow  older  their  attention  may  be  sustained 
for  a  longer  period.  For  example,  the  actual  game  in  the 
fifth-grade  drill  with  the  fraction  cards  consumed  3^-  min- 
utes, while  the  whole  process  took  about  six  minutes.  Even 
with  children  of  this  age,  however,  the  teacher  did  not  repeat 
the  game  that  day,  but  proceeded  to  assign  area  problems  in 
which  the  fractions  would  be  used. 

Snappy,  interesting,  ten-minute  drills  have  proved  ade- 
quate. —  These  examples  are  fair  illustrations  of  the  current 
practice  of  having  snappy,  interesting,  abstract  drills  for  a 
fevr  minutes  at  the  beginning  of  the  lesson,  to  be  followed 
by  content  work  involving  new  ideas  or  application  of  the 


DRILL  AND  PRACTICE  259 

processes   which   had   been   drilled   on.     As    Courtis    says 
concerning  the  fundamental  operations  in  arithmetic, 

Ten  minutes  a  day,  day  after  day,  spent  in  intense,  purposeful, 
snappy  practice  has  proved  adequate  to  develop  proper  habits  of 
speed  and  accuracy.  Why  use  more  ?  (5  (<f) :  3) 

Proved  by  scientific,  precise,  objective  measurements.  — 
When  Courtis  says  "has  proved  adequate,"  he  means 
"  proved  "  by  means  of  precise,  objective,  scientific  measure- 
ments of  the  results  of  actually  using  carefully  organized 
drill  systems  in  arithmetic.  Those  who  are  interested  in 
examining  the  accounts  of  such  scientific  investigations  of 
drill  in  arithmetic,  spelling,  and  handwriting  should  read  the 
references  given  at  the  end  of  this  chapter.  Such  scientific 
investigations  make  it  unnecessary  to  rely  merely  on  some- 
one's opinions  concerning  the  value  of  snappy,  interesting 
drill  as  compared  with  the  old-fashioned  ineffective  drills, 
which  were  characterized  often  by  dallying  and  disgust  on 
the  part  of  most  pupils. 

Summary  of  principles  of  drill  to  this  point.  —  The  three 
principles  of  drill  which  we  have  considered  thus  far  include 
some  of  the  most  fundamental  practical  rules  that  a  begin- 
ning teacher  can  easily  keep  in  mind  in  organizing  drill 
activities.  They  may  be  summarized  as  follows  : 

1 .  Only  correct  practice  makes  perfect ;  therefore, 

a.  Delay  drill  until  a  correct  start  is  assured. 

b.  Always  subordinate  speed  to  accuracy. 

2.  Avoid   wasting    time   on   nonessential   and   accessory 
processes. 

3.  Secure  zeal,  interest,  and  concentration  of  attention 
with  short  snappy  drills. 

To  these  fundamental  elementary  rules  we  may  add  the 
following  rules  or  principles  for  further  guidance. 

4.  Use  ready-made,  scientifically  organized  systems.  - 
The  content  of  the  drills  in  spelling,  arithmetic,  handwriting, 


260       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

and  reading  consists  of  thousands  of  words,  number  combina- 
tions, and  letter  forms  which  are  of  practical  value  in  every- 
day life.  It  is  a  stupendous  task  to  determine 

1 i )  which  of  these  forms  are  most  valuable ; 

(2)  which  can  be  learned  readily  by  children  of  different  ages; 

(3)  what  special  difficulties  are  encountered  with  various 

forms  and  combinations  ;  and 

(4)  upon  what  days  and  for  how  many  days  each  class 

and  each  pupil  needs  to  be  drilled  on  each  form 

or  combination. 

Illustrated  in  scientific  investigation  and  organization  of 
spelling  vocabulary.  —  In  our  discussion  of  the  relative  values 
of  subject  matter,  we  described  (page  104)  the  scientific  work 
that  had  been  done  in  determining  the  4000  words  which 
are  in  most  common  use  in  everyday  writing,  the  hundred 
"  spelling  demons,"  or  most  difficult  words,  and  the  organi- 
zation of  spelling  textbooks  which  distribute  these  words 
systematically  through  the  grades  with  proper  reviews  and 
repetitions  to  secure  permanent  learning  of  them.  This 
accomplishment  represented  the  cumulative  results  of  thou- 
sands of  hours  of  scientific  study  and  practical  organization 
of  spelling  material.  It  is  obvious  that  any  teacher  profits 
enormously  from  using  in  her  spelling  drill  a  ready-made 
system  which  is  the  outcome  of  so  many  hours  of  reliable 
work  by  others. 

Thousands  of  hours  tised  to  devise  scientific  drill  systems 
in  arithmetic.  —  In  arithmetic  a  similar  situation  prevails. 
In  our  chapter  on  the  selection  of  subject  matter  (page  104) 
we  showed  that  it  had  been  determined  that  simple  prob- 
lems involving  simple  operations  in  adding,  subtracting, 
multiplying,  and  dividing  constitute  the  chief  arithmetical 
activities  of  life.  A  systematic  study  of  these  processes  en- 
ables one  to  list  all  of  the  number  combinations  and  opera- 
tions which  are  used.  A  study  of  the  ease  and  difficulty 
with  which  children  carry  on  these  various  operations  reveals 


DRILL  AND  PRACTICE  261 

then  the  "arithmetical  demons,"  or  steps  of  special  diffi- 
cult}', as  well  as  the  minor  difficulties  which  they  encounter. 
Upon  this  basis  a  thorough  systematic  drill  system  in  arith- 
metic may  be  worked  out,  printed  upon  sheets,  and  made 
available  for  all  teachers.  Thousands  of  hours  have  been 
spent  by  men  of  scientific  ability,  cooperating  with  teachers 
all  over  the  country,  in  devising  and  revising  such  arith- 
metical drill  systems.  They  are  now  for  sale  by  publishers. 
If  a  teacher  is  at  work  in  a  school  which,  unfortunately, 
does  not  provide  her  with  such  ready-made  drill  systems  for 
use  in  her  classes,  it  would  pay  her  to  secure  sample  copies 
of  them  in  order  to  derive  many  suggestions  for  improving 
her  drill  lessons.  For  a  list  of  some  of  these  ready-made 
systems  see  the  bibliography  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

5.  Continue  drill  until  precise  standard  scores  are  main- 
tained. —  The  scientific  drill  systems  described  above  enable 
us  to  answer  a  very  perplexing  question  ;  namely,  When  has 
sufficient  drill  been  given  on  any  combination  or  operation 
in  reading,  handwriting,  or  arithmetic  ?  This  question  is 
puzzling  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  a  child  may  be 
able  to  read  or  write  or  cipher  satisfactorily  at  a  slow 
speed  but  make  mistakes  at  a  higher  speed.  We  can  in- 
crease his  speed  by  well-organized  practice  or  drill,  but  we 
need  to  know  when  it  has  reached  a  sufficient  rate.  The 
question  is  answered  by  the  scientific  drill  systems  by  giving 
standard  scores.  For  example,  the  class  which  was  multi- 
plying a  certain  pack  of  fraction  cards  described  above 
would  not  have  sufficient  skill  until  it  could  finish  the  pack 
in  three  minutes ;  or,  in  the  case  of  the  arithmetic  practice 
sheets  described  on  page  253,  a  fifth-grade  child  who  is 
practicing  with  the  lesson  sheets  is  not  permitted  to  leave 
each  until  he  can  complete  correctly  all  the  problems  on  it 
in  a  timed  test  of  seven  minutes.  These  standard  scores 
which  the  children  are  expected  to  attain  in  any  grade  have 
been  determined  by  careful  investigations  of  the  scores  made 


262        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

by  thousands  of  children  in  each  grade  when  they  have  been 
given  various  kinds  and  amounts  of  training.  The  scores 
which  they  are  to  attain  upon  graduation  from  the  eighth 
grade  have  been  determined  by  reliable  tests  of  adults  who 
use  in  daily  life  the  operations  or  combinations  which  are 
to  be  practiced. 

Persistence  of  skill  determined  by  standard  tests.  —  The 
second  puzzling  feature  of  the  question  of  when  has  suffi- 
cient drill  been  given  is  the  fact  that  a  child  may  reach  a 
satisfactory  score  in  handwriting  or  arithmetic  to-day,  but 
fall  below  it  next  week  or  next  year.  The  standard  drill 
systems  take  care  of  this  difficulty  by  testing  the  children 
frequently,  several  times  each  year,  and  determining  from 
their  scores  just  how  much  drill  they  need.  It  is  usually 
found  that  some  children  need  practice  regularly  throughout 
the  grades  in  order  to  keep  them  up  to  standard  scores  in 
handwriting  and  the  fundamental  operations  in  arithmetic,  but 
other  children  retain  their  skill  so  permanently,  or  regain  it  so 
quickly,  that  they  may  be  excused  from  much  of  the  practice 
that  is  necessary  for  many  of  the  children.  This  fact  will  be 
referred  to  again  in  a  later  chapter  on  individual  differences. 

6.  Give  practice  in  using  abstract  forms  and  processes  in 
concrete  situations.  —  Finally,  we  may  emphasize  the  impor- 
tance of  giving  pupils  practice  in  using  in  concrete,  complex 
situations  the  abstract  forms  and  operations  which  they  have 
practiced  in  isolation  in  the  abstract  drills.  This  process  was 
illustrated  in  the  examples  with  which  this  chapter  opened, 
where,  in  the  reading  lesson,  after  the  card  drill,  the  chil- 
dren proceeded  to  read  sentences  containing  the  words  of  the 
drill,  and  after  the  fraction  drill  the  children  used  multipli- 
cation of  fractions  in  solving  area  problems.  One  of  the 
simplest  examples  of  the  need  of  such  concrete  practice 
is  found  in  the  case  of  spelling,  in  which  a  child  may  spell 
a  new  difficult  word  correctly  when  it  occurs  in  a  column 
test  but  spell  it  incorrectly  when  writing  it  in  a  sentence. 


DRILL  AND  PRACTICE  263 

Such  failures  are  illustrated  in  the  following  experiment  by 
Tidy  man  and  Brown.  (6) 

A  sixth-grade  class  containing  41  pupils  was  taught  the 
spelling  of  37  new  words,  20  of  these  being  rated  as  easy 
and  17  as  difficult.  "  The  method  of  teaching  consisted  of 
the  study  of  the  individual  words  from  the  board,  use  in 
oral  sentences,  oral  spelling,  and  writing,"  but  the  words 
were  not  written  in  sentences  during  the  training. 

After  some  weeks,  tests  were  given  which  included  all  the 
new  words  in  column  spelling  as  well  as  all  of  them  in  dic- 
tated sentences.  The  amount  of  correct  spelling  of  the  new 
words  in  the  sentence  test  was  only  89  per  cent  of  the 
amount  of  correct  spelling  in  the  column  test  with  the  same 
words ;  that  is,  there  was  a  loss  of  1 1  per  cent  when  the 
words  were  written  in  sentences. 

Large  amount  of  skill  transferred,  but  must  correct  amount 
lost.  —  We  must  not  be  confused,  however,  by  the  above 
results  and  conclude  that  training  in  column  spelling  is 
a  waste  of  time.  The  fact  that  the  correct  spelling  in  the 
sentences  was  89  per  cent  as  great  as  in  the  columns 
is  probably  more  impressive  than  the  loss  of  1 1  per  cent. 
It  shows  that  spelling  words  may  be  learned  in  isolation  and 
then  correctly  used  in  sentence  writing,  with  very  small  loss. 
However,  since  our  purpose  is  to  secure  absolute  correctness 
in  sentence  spelling,  we  should  not  overlook  this  small  loss, 
but  take  steps  to  correct  it  by  giving  practice  in  writirjg  the 
words  in  sentences  in  addition  to  the  spelling  of  the  words 
in  isolation. 

Rules  for  conduct  of  drills  briefly  phrased.  —  The  above 
pages  present  the  fundamental  principles  and  rules  to  be 
observed  in  conducting  drill  lessons.  They  may  be  phrased 
briefly  in  the  following  words  : 

i.  Only  correct  practice  makes  perfect. 

a.  Make  a  correct  start. 

b.  Subordinate  speed  to  accuracy. 


264        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

2.  Avoid  unnecessary  processes. 

3.  Arouse  zeal  and  interest. 

4.  Use  ready-made  scientific  drill  systems. 

5.  Drill  till  standard  scores  are  maintained. 

6.  Apply  abstract  forms  in  concrete  situations. 

Is  incidental  drill  as  good  as  socially  valuable,  interest- 
ing, scientifically  organized  specific  drill  ?  —  It  is  generally 
admitted  at  the  present  time  that  such  specific  and  scientifi- 
cally organized  drill  is  desirable  and  necessary  in  schools. 
There  are  a  few  educators,  however,  who  think  that  the 
necessary  skill  in  reading,  handwriting,  spelling,  and  arith- 
metic can  be  acquired  incidentally  during  the  study  of  history, 
geography,  literature,  manual  training,  etc.  They  do  not 
believe  in  abstract  drills  upon  forms,  combinations,  and 
processes  in  isolation  from  concrete,  complex  situations.  A 
great  deal  of  discussion  has  centered  in  this  question  of 
specific  drill  versus  incidental  drill.  Three  aspects  of  the 
question  have  been  disposed  of  in  our  earlier  discussions 
and  may  be  summarized  as  follows  : 

First.  The  social  necessity  and  value  of  these  forms  of  skill 
have  been  shown  by  precise,  objective  studies  of  social  activi- 
ties in  the  world  at  large.  These  studies  determine  just 
what  spelling  words  and  arithmetical  processes  and  degrees 
of  speed  and  accuracy  in  handwriting  are  desirable.  The 
studies  of  spelling  and  arithmetic  were  summarized  in  our 
chapter  on  the  selection  of  subject  matter  (pages  103-106). 

Second.  Children  manifest  the  most  intense  interest  in 
abstract  drills  which  are  so  organized  as  to  appeal  to  their 
instinctive  interests  in  games  and  emulation,  without  recourse 
to  any  other  motive.  This  was  discussed  in  our  chapter  on 
interests  (pages  208  and  239-242). 

Third.  Ten  minutes  a  day  of  such  socially  valuable, 
interesting,  well-organized  drills  have  proved  sufficient  in 
each  subject  to  maintain  high  degrees  of  skill,  most  of 
which  transfers  to  concrete  situations. 


DRILL  AND  PRACTICE  265 

Our  discussions,  therefore,  have  proved  that  the  abstract 
processes  practiced  in  scientifically  organized  isolated  drills 
are  socially  valuable,  that  the  children  may  take  intense 
interest  in  such  drills,  and  that  the  latter  are  effective  in 
giving  children  a  command  of  these  abstract  tools  for  use 
in  concrete,  complex  situations. 

Inadequacy  of  incidental  practice  shown  by  measured 
results.  —  It  remains  for  us  to  determine  whether  incidental 
drill,  without  the  specific  abstract  isolated  drill,  is  equally 
effective.  Scientific  tests  indicate  that  it  is  not,  that  where 
children  are  not  given  specific  drills,  their  skill  in  spelling, 
handwriting,  and  arithmetic  falls  far  below  that  which  has 
been  shown  to  be  socially  desirable  and  which  they  can 
easily  attain  through  specific  drill.  The  Elementary  School 
of  The  University  of  Chicago  furnishes  interesting  evidence 
of  these  facts,  since,  up  to  about  1909,  it  was  conducted 
largely  on  the  basis  of  incidental  drills,  and  after  that  date 
specific  drills  were  emphasized.  The  inadequacy  of  the 
incidental  drill  came  to  light  about  1908,  when  Stone 
measured  with  carefully  devised  tests  the  efficiency  in  arith- 
metic shown  by  sixth-grade  children  in  twenty-six  school 
systems,  including  The  University  of  Chicago  Elementary 
School.  The  latter  took  very  low  rank ;  in  fact  so  unsatis- 
factory was  its  showing  that  its  faculty  became  very  much 
concerned  to  improve  its  efficiency  in  arithmetic  by  instituting 
specific  drill  in  arithmetic.  As  a  consequence  specific  standard- 
ized drill  in  this  subject  is  now  emphasized  in  the  school. 

Similar  results  came  to  light  in  the  handwriting.  This 
was  tested  by  Professor  Freeman  in  1912  and  found  to  rank 
well  below  that  of  a  good  public-school  system.  Ten  min- 
utes a  day  of  specific  drill  in  handwriting  was  then  intro- 
duced and  the  amount  of  improvement  measured  after  several 
months  with  favorable  results. 

Such  scientific  measurements  show  the  results  of  inci- 
dental practice  in  arithmetic  and  handwriting  in  an  unusually 


266       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

well-equipped  school,  with  high-salaried,  experienced  teachers. 
Even  with  such  favorable  conditions,  the  children  did  not 
learn  to  cipher  or  write  with  sufficient  skill  to  meet 
the  standard  requirements  of  daily  life  as  determined  by 
precise  investigations. 

Deterioration  in  handwriting  without  drill  illustrated  by 
an  example.  —  The  amount  of  deterioration  in  a  formal  skill, 
such  as  handwriting,  which  may  result  when  no  specific 
drill  is  given  in  it,  especially  when  it  is  much  used,  is 
illustrated  by  the  following  example. 

My  ten-year-old  son  attends  The  University  of  Chicago 
Elementary  School  mentioned  above,  which  still  retains  the 
rich  course  of  study  in  history,  geography,  nature  study, 
literature,  etc.  which  it  formerly  maintained,  plus  specific 
drill  in  the  formal  subjects.  By  the  end  of  the  third  grade 
he  wrote  a  fair,  legible  hand.  He  was  then  out  of 
school  for  three  winter  months  while  we  were  in  Florida. 
We  taught  him  at  home,  but  neglected  his  handwriting. 
After  he  reentered  school  in  the  spring,  the  handwriting 
drills,  for  a  certain  reason,  were  omitted.  Then  followed  the 
long  summer  vacation,  during  which  he  did  much  fluent 
writing ;  for  example,  pretending  he  was  writing  a  book,  he 
copied  all  of  the  marginal  headings  in  Marshall's  "History 
of  France."  In  the  fall,  upon  returning  to  school,  his  hand- 
writing was  so  poor  that  when  asked  to  read  one  of  his  com- 
positions to  the  class,  he  could  not  read  his  own  writing.  It 
took  several  months  of  short  drills  in  school,  supplemented 
by  practice  at  home,  to  get  his  handwriting  back  to  fairly 
satisfactory  form. 

Specific  drill  especially  needed  with  rich,  enticing  course 
of  study.  —  While  a  single  example,  like  the  above,  does  not 
prove  our  point,  it  illustrates  perhaps  more  vividly  than  do 
the  scientific  measurements  by  Stone  and  Freeman  the 
necessity  of  careful  attention  to  specific  drills  in  fundamental 
formal  processes.  This  is  especially  true  in  a  school  that  has 


DRILL  AND  PRACTICE  267 

a  rich  course  of  study  in  the  content  subjects,  a  course  so 
rich  and  enticing  that  the  formal  processes  may  suffer  serious 
neglect  and  the  pupils  be  seriously  handicapped  through  in- 
ability to  use  the  formal  tools  of  arithmetic  and  handwriting. 
This  neglect  results  from  the  teacher's  becoming  absorbed 
in  large  interesting  projects  with  the  pupils,  so  interesting 
to  her  that  she  does  not  care  to  devote  her  time  to  organ- 
izing routine  drills.  The  teachers  lack  of  interest  in  this 
part  of  her  work  should  not  confuse  us  in  thinking  of  the 
pupils  interest.  The  interest  of  the  pupils,  as  we  have 
repeatedly  stated,  may  be  just  as  keen  in  well-organized 
specific  drills  as  in  the  richest,  meaningful  content  work,  on 
the  one  hand,  or  in  the  meaningless  playing  with  jacks,  jump- 
ing a  rope,  singing  "  Ring-around-a-Rosy,"  wrestling  and 
playing  Black  Tom  or  baseball,  on  the  other  hand.  Naturally, 
the  adult  teacher  may  not  care  to  organize  drills  any  more 
than  she  cares  for  these  childish  games,  but  she  should  not 
let  her  lack  of  interest  in  these  matters  blind  her  to  the 
needs  and  interests  of  the  children. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  references  with  an  asterisk  are  recommended  to  beginners. 
Easy  practical  chapters.  —  *  i .  BAGLEV,  W.  C.  The  Educative 
Process.   (The  Macmillan  Company,  1905.)    Pp.  328-331. 

*  2.  EARHART,   LIDA  B.    Types  of  Teaching.   (Houghton   Mifflin 
Company,  1915.)   Chap,  xii,  pp.  150-176. 

*  3.  STRAYER,    G.  D.     The    Teaching    Process.    (The    Macmillan 
Company,  1911.)    Pp.  41-50. 

Drill  in  arithmetic.  —  *4-  KLAPPER,  P.  The  Teaching  of  Arith- 
metic. (D.  Appleton  and  Company,  1916.)  Many  excellent  practical 
pages  listed  under  "  drill "  in  the  index. 

Ready-made  drill  systems.  —  Several  of  the  textbook  publishers  issue 
ready-made  drill  systems  in  arithmetic  and  other  subjects.  Teachers  should 
write  for  information  concerning  these.  Address  Ginn  and  Company 
concerning  the  Thompson  Minimum  Essentials ;  Scott,  Foresman,  and 
Company,  Chicago  and  New  York,  concerning  the  Studebaker  perforated 
arithmetic  cards ;  and  World  Book  Company,  Yon kers-on-the- Hudson, 


268       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

New  York,  concerning  the  Courtis  Practice  Materials  in  Arithmetic. 
See  also  the  following  arithmetics  for  examples  of  well-organized  drill 
materials  incorporated  in  the  textbook :  CHADSEY-SMITH.  Efficiency 
Arithmetics.  (Atkinson,  Mentzer,  and  Company,  1917.)  WENTWORTH- 
SMITH.  Essentials  of  Arithmetic.  (Ginn  and  Company,  1915.)  Most 
of  the  systems  of  teaching  primary  reading  provide  ready-made  drill 
materials. 

Scientific  construction  of  ready-made  drill  systems.  —  5.  COURTIS, 

5.  A.    The   extensive  work   of    Courtis   in  scientifically  devising  and 
revising  drill  systems  presents  one  of  the  most  instructive  introductions 
to  the  study  of  modern  drill  methods.    The  progress  of  his  work  may 
be  traced  by  reading  the  following  publications : 

a.  Elementary  School  Teacher,  1910-1912.    Vol.  XI,  pp.  171,  360, 
528,  and  Vol.  XII,  p.  127.    Early  articles  on  arithmetic  tests. 

b.  Standard  Rates  of  Reading.  Fourteenth  Yearbook  of  the  ATational 
Society  for  the  Study  of  Education,  Part  I.    (School  and  Home  Pub- 
lishing Company,  1915.)    Pp.  44-58. 

c.  Tests  in  Arithmetic.   Fifteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society 
for  the  Study  of  Education,  Part  I.    (School  and  Home  Publishing 
Company,  1916.)    Pp.  91-106. 

d.  Teacher's  Manual  for   Courtis  Standard  Practice   Exercises. 
(World  Book  Company,  Yonkers-on-the-Hudson,  New  York,  1916.) 

Transfer  of  skill  from  abstract  drills  to  concrete  practice.  — 

6.  TIDYMAN,  W.  F.,  and  BROWN,  HELEN  A.  The  Extent  and  Meaning 
of  the  Loss  in  "  Transfer  "  in  Spelling.    Elementary  School  Journal, 
November,  1917,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  210-214.    Described  above,  p.  263. 

Tests  of  efficiency  of  drill.  —  7.  FREEMAN,  F.  N.  The  Handwriting 
Movement.  Supplementary  Educational  Monographs.  (The  University 
of  Chicago,  1918.)  Pp.  126-158.  Describes  the  results  of  eight  months 
of  carefully  organized  drill  in  handwriting. 

8.  STONE,  C.  W.    Arithmetical  Abilities  and  Some  Factors  De- 
termining Them.  (Columbia  University,  1908.)  Described  on  page  265. 

9.  WALLIN,  J.  E.  W.     Spelling  Efficiency.    (Warwick  &  York.) 
Pp.  17-25,  41,  80.    See  these  pages  for  rapid  study.    Scientific  evalua- 
tion of  this  material  requires  very  careful  study  of  it. 

Summaries  of  experimental  psychological  studies  of  practice.  — 
10.  FREEMAN,  F.  N.  How  Children  Learn.  (Houghton  Mifflin  Com- 
pany, 1917.)  Pp.  185-211.  Easy  reading  for  beginners. 

ii.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.  Educational  Psychology,  Briefer  Course. 
(Teachers  College,  1914.)  Pp.  186-282.  Technical  account  for  trained 
readers. 


CHAPTER  XI 

ADAPTING  CLASS  INSTRUCTION  TO  DIFFERENCES 
IN  CAPACITY 

Main  points  of  the  chapter.  —  i.  Monotones  and  sweet  singers 
in  the  same  family  illustrate  differences  in  the  ease  or  difficulty 
with  which  different  children  learn. 

2.  Drill  exercises  in  arithmetic  which  permit  each  pupil  to 
advance  at  his  own  rate  illustrate  adapting  class  teaching  to  the 
needs  and  capacities  of  different  children. 

3.  Carefully  organized  supplementary  assignments  for  bright 
pupils  enable  them  to  utilize  their  spare  time  profitably. 

4.  Individual  promotions  of  pupils  who  have  failed,  but  who 
can  progress  with  individual  teaching  through  the  grades,  illustrate 
administrative  provisions  for  individual  attention. 

5.  Statistical  studies  show  that  without  differentiated  teaching 
the  brightest  pupils  may  have  half  their  time  to  spare  while  the 
slowest  are  dragged  along  so  fast  that  they  cannot  learn. 

6.  Such  studies  show  also  that  there  are  only  a  few  such  bright 
and  slow  pupils  in  an  ordinary  class. 

7.  Precise   objective    studies   of   the   mentally   deficient,    of 
geniuses,  and  of  twins  show  that  inborn  equipment  is  a  very 
large  factor  in  determining  an  individual's  rate  of  learning. 

8.  There  is  such  a  variety  of  human  talents,  however,  varying 
from  the  manual  skill  of  the  artisan  to  the  scientific  reasoning  of 
a  Newton  or  the  statesmanship  of  a  Lincoln,  that  practically  every 
pupil  has  some  talent  that  is  worth  developing  to  a  high  degree. 

9.  Certain  capacities,  such  as  arithmetical  computation,  should 
be  developed  in  all  pupils  to  a  certain  minimum  skill  desirable  for 
social  usefulness. 

10.  In  all  cases  the  inborn  character  of  varied  talents  calls  for 
the  most  sympathetic,  reasonable,  differentiated  treatment  of 
pupils  by  the  teacher. 

269 


270       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

The  last  of  chapters  on  general  aspects  of  learning.  — 
This  will  be  our  last  chapter  on  the  general  aspects  of  learn- 
ing processes.  If  we  go  back  to  the  first  of  these  chapters, 
we  shall  find  that  it  emphasized  the  fact  that  a  pupil  learns 
through  his  own  responses ;  hence  the  response  that  a  pupil 
makes  in  any  process  of  learning  becomes  the  central  fac- 
tor for  the  teacher  to  consider.  In  the  other  chapters  on 
learning  we  noted  how  these  responses  were  influenced  by 
the  pupil's  past  experience  and  present  frame,  including,  in 
the  latter,  attitudes  of  attention  and  interest.  Finally,  we 
described  how  certain  responses  in  the  formal  subjects  are 
made  automatic  through  correct,  interesting  practice.  In  this 
connection  we  noted  that  certain  standard  scores  in  arith- 
metic, handwriting,  etc.  had  been  established  and  that  pupils 
vary  in  the  ease  with  which  they  reach  and  maintain  these 
scores.  Some  children  reach  and  maintain  them  with  little 
practice,  and  in  a  well-organized  drill  scheme  are  then  ex- 
cused from  further  practice.  Other  children,  however,  have 
great  difficulty  in  reaching  the  standard  scores ;  they  need 
much  more  individual  assistance  from  the  teacher  and  many 
more  periods  of  practice.  Such  facts  concerning  the  indi- 
vidual differences  in  the  ease  with  which  pupils  learn  will 
furnish  the  material  for  discussion  in  this  chapter. 

Example  of  individual  differences.  Great  differences  in 
capacity  for  learning  to  sing.  —  One  of  the  simplest  exam- 
ples of  variations  in  the  ease  with  which  children  learn  is 
found  in  learning  to  sing.  Some  children  learn  to  sing  cor- 
rectly with  practically  no  instruction,  merely  through  imita- 
tion, while  others,  even  with  the  regular  school  instruction 
in  singing,  remain  monotones  or  near-monotones.  Very  often 
when  these  differences  in  the  capacity  to  learn  to  sing  are 
mentioned  to  singing  teachers,  however,  they  tend  to  belittle 
the  differences  by  affirming  that  "  even  the  monotones  can 
be  taught  to  sing  if  given  sufficient  individual  teaching." 
They  will  cite  examples  of  certain  extreme  monotones  who 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  271 

have  learned  to  sing  a  few  songs  through  very  skilled  pro- 
longed teaching.  However,  instead  of  minimizing  the  im- 
portance of  individual  differences  in  the  capacity  for  learning 
to  sing,  such  examples  merely  emphasize  the  great  influence 
and  importance  of  such  differences. 

Illustrated  by  children  from  same  family.  —  Another 
objection  that  is  often  cited  in  an  effort  to  refute  the  impor- 
tance of  such  differences  in  capacity  is  the  statement  that 
"  the  monotones  had  unfavorable  home  influences  "  and  that 
"  the  teaching  did  not  begin  at  a  sufficiently  early  age."  In 
order  to  secure  evidence  concerning  these  statements  it  is 
merely  necessary  to  make  observations  in  families  where  both 
monotones  and  singers  exist  among  the  children  of  the  same 
family.  The  following  is  a  typical  example  from  a  family 
which  I  have  been  observing  for  some  years. 

Monotones  and  sweet  singers  in  the  same  family.  —  Two 
of  the  children  in  this  family,  a  girl  of  six  and  a  girl  of  ten, 
are  radically  opposite  in  singing  ability.  The  six-year-old  is 
a  sweet  singer ;  that  is,  without  instruction  she  easily  picks 
up  songs,  and  sings  happily  and  correctly  at  her  play  much 
of  the  time.  The  ten-year-old,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  near- 
monotone  ;  that  is,  she  learns  songs  with  great  difficulty  even 
under  instruction  and  seldom  sings  one  through  correctly. 

Same  opportunities.  —  Both  of  the  children  have  had  the 
same  home  and  school  influences  as  far  as  their  ages  per- 
mit, the  monotone,  being  the  older,  having  had  more  musi- 
cal opportunities.  They  have  both  heard  piano  and  phono- 
graph music  in  the  home  and,  as  they  grew  old  enough, 
had  the  common  singing  experiences  of  the  Sunday  school, 
kindergarten,  and  primary  grades.  The  monotone  has  been 
taking  piano  lessons  for  two  years. 

Parental  differences. — The  same  differences  as  are  found 
between  these  children  appear  between  the  parents. 

Musical  mother.  —  The  mother  has  very  fine  musical  per- 
ception. She  has  always  whistled  and  sung  for  fun,  can  easily 


2/2        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

sing  any  part  in  chorus  singing,  remembers  a  song  when 
she  has  heard  it  only  a  few  times,  and  can  play  it  "by  ear " 
on  the  piano  with  proper  improvising  of  accompaniment. 

Father,  grandmother,  and  great-grandmother  were  mono- 
tones.— The  father,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  monotone.  Like 
his  monotone  daughter,  he  has  great  difficulty  in  singing 
songs  correctly.  His  mother  was  a  monotone,  and  his 
mother's  mother  was  a  monotone. 

Fathers  stepmother  a  musician.  —  The  father's  mother, 
however,  died  when  he  was  a  baby,  and,  at  the  age  of  two, 
he  acquired  a  stepmother  who  was  a  musician, — pianist  and 
singer.  Unlike  the  stepmother  of  the  storybooks,  she  was 
very  kind  to  the  boy,  who  liked  her  very  much.  Moreover, 
she  brought  much  music  into  the  home,  but  the  little  boy 
failed  to  learn  to  sing  more  than  a  few  airs.  However,  he 
now  remembers  fairly  well  a  few  songs  which  he  learned  in 
his  teens,  such  as,  "  Hail,  Hail,  the  Gang 's  all  here  "  and 
"Two  little  Girls  in  Blue." 

Father  ranks  high  in  most  other  capacities. — The  father's 
lack  of  capacity  for  singing  is  highly  specialized.  In  almost 
every  other  capacity  he  takes  high  rank,  being  an  efficient 
business  man,  executive  and  public  speaker,  and  an  expert 
in  bowling,  tennis,  golf,  and  rifle  shooting. 

General  facts  about  individual  differences  suggested  by  the 
example.  —  This  little  family  story  of  individual  differences  in 
the  capacity  for  learning  to  sing  suggests  a  number  of  general 
facts  about  individual  differences  in  capacities  as  follows : 

1.  The  differences  may  be  inborn  or  native,  not  merely 
due  to  education.    In  this  case  the  evidence  indicates  rather 
conclusively  that  they  are  inherited. 

2.  With  the  same  opportunities,  children  with  different 
native  capacities  may  learn  very  differently,  achieve  very  differ- 
ent degrees  of  skill.    The  amount  of  teaching  that  is  needed 
to  teach  one  child  to  sing  only  one  song  indifferently  might 
suffice  to  teach  another  child  to  sing  ten  songs  well. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  273 

3.  However,  a  person  who  possesses  only  a  very  small 
native  capacity  for  a  certain  activity  may  still  acquire  some 
skill  in  that  line  if  given  sufficient  practice,  as  shown  by 
the  father's  learning  a  few  songs. 

4.  The  specific  skill  acquired  from  such  teaching  may 
persist  a  long  time,  as  shown  by  the  father's  ability  to  sing 
a  few  songs  which  he  learned  in  adolescence. 

5.  A  lack  of  capacity  may  be  specialized,  so  that  a  per- 
son who  cannot  learn  easily  in  some  line  may  easily  become 
an  expert  in  others. 

Weak  or  slow  pupils.  Monotones  not  denied  promotion.  — 
Let  us  now  turn  to  the  school  and  find  what  is  done  about 
monotones  in  the  singing  classes.  In  the  first  place  we  find 
that  lack  of  ability  to  sing  correctly  is  never  made  a  basis 
of  promotion  or  nonpromotion  in  the  ordinary  school. 
Probably  the  reason  for  this  is  recognition  of  the  fact  that 
a  person  may  be  unable  to  sing  and  still  be  a  very  useful 
and  happy  member  of  society ;  for  example,  the  father  men- 
tioned above,  while  he  cannot  sing,  is  a  very  efficient  and 
useful  person  and  also  has  much  fun  through  participation 
in  many  sports  and  through  wide  reading. 

Placed  near  piano  or  excused  from  singing.  —  In  the 
singing  classes  in  school  the  monotones  are  often  placed 
near  the  piano  or  near  the  teacher  in  recognition  of  their 
peculiar  needs.  It  would  probably  be  wise  to  excuse  the 
most  extreme  cases  from  the  singing  classes  altogether,  for 
two  reasons ;  first,  in  order  that  they  might  spend  their  own 
time  in  a  more  profitable  manner,  and,  second,  in  order  to 
avoid  handicapping  the  children  of  moderate  musical  capacity 
who  cannot  sing  correctly  when  seated  near  a  monotone. 

Contrast  with  required  skill  in  fundamentals  in  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic  ;  these  socially  necessary.  —  Let  us 
now  compare  the  treatment  of  monotones  in  school  with 
the  provisions  for  individual  differences  in  drill  lessons 
in  reading,  handwriting,  and  arithmetic.  A  very  strong 


274       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

contrast  appears,  owing  to  the  difference  in  the  social  utility 
of  the  activities  in  question.  As  indicated  above,  a  person 
may  be  very  useful,  efficient,  and  happy  and  not  be  able  to 


7      //      ?      IZL      /      9       /3      q      12^ 
JL      5JL-LJL.2__Z.JL3_JL 

T(/m&. 


TEST  PAPER  ILLUSTRATING  DIAGNOSIS  OF  INDIVIDUAL 

PUPIL'S  DIFFICULTIES 
From  an  investigation  by  J.  H.  Smith  described  on  page  275 

sing.  But  a  person  who  cannot  read,  write,  or  cipher  at  fair 
speed  and  with  fair  accuracy  has  his  chances  for  usefulness 
and  efficiency  very  much  curtailed  in  modern  society. 

Much  individual  attention  given  in  these  fundamentals. — 
Consequently,  as  we  indicated  in  the  chapter  on  drill,  we 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  275 

find  the  most  careful  attention  being  given  to  individual 
pupils  who  have  difficulty  in  attaining  the  standard  scores  in 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  that  are  socially  desirable. 
With  skilled  diagnosis  of  each  pupil's  difficulties,  skilled 
analysis  of  his  internal  responses,  and  skilled  suggestions 
for  improvement,  many  of  the  slow  pupils  can  acquire  the 
desired  skill. 

Examples  of  individual  diagnosis  and  assistance.  —  In 
our  chapter  on  drill  (page  253)  we  gave  one  example  of  the 

child  who  had  difficulty  in  adding  ^  because  he  had  to  stop 

and  work  it  out  as  9  +  2  +  2  +  2  +  1  =  1 6.  The  teacher  dis- 
covered the  child's  difficulty  with  this  particular  combination 
and  practiced  him  until  he  thought  1 6  automatically  when  he 

saw  9  to  be  added. 
_7 

Another  example  is  described  byj.  H.  Smith,  who,  in 
teaching  arithmetic  in  the  upper  grades  of  The  University 
of  Chicago  Elementary  School,  carried  on  tests  of  indi- 
vidual pupils  to  determine  their  special  difficulties,  and  then 
remedied  these  by  appropriate  individual  training. 

The  children  were  tested  individually  with  printed  sheets 
of  problems.  Each  pupil  was  asked  to  think  "out  loud" 
while  doing  his  written  work  on  the  test  problems  so  that 
the  teacher  could  find  the  errors  in  his  inner  responses. 
The  teacher  made  note  of  these  errors  and  later  entered 
memoranda  of  them  on  the  pupil's  test  paper.  A  sample  of 
a  pupil's  paper  with  memoranda  entered  by  the  teacher  is 
shown  on  page  274.  In  commenting  on  the  individual 
needs  of  the  pupil  who  wrote  this  sample  paper,  Smith  says  : 

This  individual  test  showed  the  pupil  to  be  very  weak  in  sub- 
traction. Note  that  he  missed  3  out  of  the  10  easy  subtractions  at 
the  beginning  of  the  test.  The  example  in  long  division  showed 
an  incomplete  understanding  of  that  process,  but  even  if  he  had 
understood  the  division  process,  he  would  have  been  unable  to 


276       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

work  the  example  correctly  on  account  of  making  so  many  errors 
in  the  subordinate  processes  of  multiplication  and  subtraction. 
(12:  196) 

Similar  diagnostic  tests  in  the  cases  of  pupils  who  were 
having  difficulty  with  reading  are  described  in  references  (14) 
and  (15)  in  the  bibliography  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

Special  difficulties  due  (i)  to  inborn  incapacity  or  (2)  to 
absence,  inattention,  poor  teaching.  —  A  pupil's  special  diffi- 
culties which  appear  in  such  diagnostic  tests  in  arithmetic 
and  reading  may  be  due  (i)  to  an  inborn  lack  of  capacity  for 
arithmetical  computation  or  reading,  or  (2)  they  may  be  due 
to  absence,  or  inattention,  or  poor  teaching  of  the  processes 
with  which  the  child  has  difficulty.  In  the  second  case  skilled 
individual  assistance  may  enable  the  child  to  forge  ahead 
rapidly  after  the  special  difficulty  has  been  cleared  up.  In 
the  first  case,  where  the  difficulty  is  due  to  inborn  incapacity, 
prolonged  patient  individual  assistance  by  the  teacher  may 
be  necessary  to  make  automatic  each  fundamental  elementary 
process.  However,  as  indicated  above,  the  social  importance 
of  such  special  skills  as  arithmetical  computation  is  so  great 
that  the  time  spent  in  improving  weak  pupils  in  them  is 
not  wasted. 

Weak  pupils  may  retain  specific  skills  if  thoroughly 
automatized. — There  is  reason  to  believe  that  if  the  simpler 
fundamental  processes  in  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and 
spelling  are  made  thoroughly  automatic  in  the  case  even  of 
slow  pupils,  by  years  of  short,  interesting,  effective  periods 
of  drill  in  school,  these  special  skills  may  persist  after  the 
pupils  leave  school.  This  does  not  mean  that  these  skills 
will  not  deteriorate  if  unpracticed  after  the  children  leave 
school,  but  it  the  skills  have  been  thoroughly  automatized  in 
school,  they  can  be  quickly  relearned,  polished  up  again, 
with  little  practice  in  later  life. 

Few  song's  remembered  by  monotone  is  an  example  of 
retained  skill. — An  ordinary  example  of  such  persistence  of 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  277 

a  specific  skill  even  when  there  is  general  native  incapacity 
is  found  in  the  case  of  the  monotones  described  earlier  in 
the  chapter,  where  the  father,  although  he  has  not  learned 
any  new  songs,  can  still  sing  a  few  songs  learned  in  ado- 
lescence. The  persistence  of  these,  to  be  sure,  is  due  not 
only  to  the  original  automatizing  of  them  but  also  to  their 
occasional. recall  at  later  periods  in  life.  The  similar  per- 
sistence of  skill  in  swimming,  skating,  and  baseball  through 
years,  often  with  prolonged  lack  of  practice,  furnishes  further 
examples. 

Typewriting  skill  deteriorated  during  disuse,  but  quickly 
relearned.  —  More  scientific  evidence  of  the  persistence  of 
specific  skills,  although  not  coupled  with  original  native 
incapacity  in  this  case,  is  found  in  elaborate  experiments  on 
typewriting  conducted  by  Swift,  who  found  that  although 
his  typewriting  skill  deteriorated  greatly  during  two  years  of 
disuse,  in  a  very  few  hours  of  practice  he  was  able  to  bring  it 
back  to  its  original  level.  Students  interested  in  examining 
the  scientific  evidence  on  the  persistence  of  special  skills 
should  read  pages  243-258  in  Thorndike's  "  Educational 
Psychology,  Briefer  Course." 

Summary  concerning  individual  teaching  of  weak  pupils. 
—  Up  to  this  point  in  our  discussion,  by  means  of  simple 
examples  of  monotones  and  of  pupils  who  need  individual  drill 
in  the  fundamental  processes  of  arithmetic,  we  illustrated  a 
number  of  general  points  concerning  individual  differences 
in  capacity  and  individual  instruction.  These  have  all  per- 
tained to  weak  pupils  or  pupils  who  are  having  special  diffi- 
culties. These  points  may  now  be  summarized  as  follows : 

1 .  A  specialized  inability  shown  by  any  pupil  may  be  due 
either  (i)  to  inborn  incapacity  or  (2)  to  misunderstanding 
and  lack  of  practice  arising  from   absence,  inattention,  or 
defective  teaching. 

2.  Where  the  inability  is  due  to  inborn  incapacity,  treat- 
ment of  it  will  depend  on  its  social  importance. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  279 

a.  If  very  essential  for  social  service  or  increased  happi- 
ness, great  care  will  be  taken  to  bring  the  weak  pupil  up  to 
satisfactory  standards. 

b.  If  the  inability  relates  to  a  subordinate  and  relatively 
nonessential  feature  of.  the  pupil's  later  life,  he  may  not  be 
given  much  special  attention. 

3.  Where  the  inability  is  not  due  to  native  incapacity, 
careful  diagnosis  and  a  few  minutes  of  skilled  individual 
teaching  will  often  suffice  to  enable  the  pupil  to  overcome 
his  difficulties  and  forge  ahead. 

Proficient  pupils.  Varied  assignments.  Excused  from 
drill.  —  The  discussion  of  the  individual  needs  of  pupils 
who  are  having  special  difficulties  presents,  however,  only 
a  part  of  the  problem  of  adapting  teaching  to  individual 
differences  in  capacity.  Equally  important  are  the  cases  of 
pupils  who  have  mastered  the  processes  with  which  most 
of  the  class  is  concerned  and  can  spend  their  time  and 
energy  to  better  advantage  on  other  assignments.  Here, 
again,  we  find  a  simple  example  of  what  can  be  done  for 
such  pupils  in  the  use  of  the  standardized  printed  drill 
materials  in  arithmetic.  As  described  on  page  254,  with 
such  materials  each  pupil  practices,  during  the  ten-minute 
drill  periods,  upon  such  problem  sheets  as  the  tests  have 
indicated  for  him.  If  the  tests  have  shown  that  he  is  suffi- 
ciently skilled  for  his  grade  in  all  the  fundamental  processes, 
then  he  is  excused  from  the  drill  and  spends  his  time  upon 


Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page.  —  In  the  school  library 
stacks  shown  in  this  picture  are  hundreds  of  volumes  of  fascinating 
literature  for  children  of  all  ages.  These  volumes  vary  from  "  Tom 
Sawyer "  and  "  How  to  make  Airplanes "  to  H.  E.  Marshall's 
"  Scotland's  Story  "  and  Stevenson's  poems.  The  fast  pupils  who 
have  completed  their  required  work  are  often  excused  to  go  to  the 
library  for  supplementary  study  or  free  reading.  Thus  the  picture 
illustrates  provision  for  individual  differences. 


280       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

other  assignments.  The  importance  of  excusing  the  profi- 
cient pupils  from  further  drill  is  emphasized  in  one  of  the 
standard  drill  systems  in  the  following  words : 

Children  who  complete  all  the  tests  successfully  do  not  need  the 
slightest  drill  work  in  the  four  operations  as  they  already  have 
more  than  average  adult  ability  in  these  skills.  The  author  and 
the  publishers  hereby  give  emphatic  warning  that  the  drill  lessons 
are  designed  only  for  children  who  need  them,  and  that  they 
should  not  be  held  responsible  for  the  bad  effects  and  loss  of  effi- 
ciency sure  to  follow  the  use  of  the  drills  with  children  who  have 
already  attained  the  desired  goal.  Failure  to  determine  the  needs 
of  children  and  to  adjust  individual  work  accordingly  is  one  of  the 
greatest  factors  operating  to  decrease  the  effectiveness  of  almost 
all  the  drill  work  found  in  common  practice.  (26  :  1 2) 

Organisation  of  supplementary  assignments.  —  After  the 
teacher  decides  to  excuse  capable  pupils  from  drill  activities 
in  which  they  are  proficient,  the  problem  arises  of  devising 
supplementary  assignments  for  them.  The  organization  of 
such  supplementary  assignments  is  desirable,  moreover,  not 
only  for  pupils  who  are  excused  from  drill  activities  but 
also  for  the  more  proficient  pupils  in  every  subject.  Such 
pupils  often  accomplish  in  a  short  time  the  regular  assign- 
ment of  work  intended  for  most  of  the  class,  and,  unless 
additional  opportunities  are  opened  for  them,  they  may 
waste  much  of  their  time  and  possibly  misuse  some  of  it 
in  devising  mischief.  An  illustration  of  what  may  be  done 
in  the  way  of  organizing  varied  assignments  for  the  bright 
and  the  mediocre  and  the  slow  pupils  is  contained  in  the 
following  quotations : 

An  experiment  with  minimum  and  maximum  assignments.  — 
The  grade  teachers  of  the  Elkhart  public  schools  tried  out  an 
experiment  during  the  past  year  with  what  may  be  called  a  sys- 
tem of  minimum  and  maximum  assignments  of  lessons.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  system  was  to  provide  a  course  to  meet  the  different 
abilities  of  different  children  and  thus  to  increase  the  promotion 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  281 

rate  among  them ;  also  to  test  out  the  scheme  as  a  forerunner  to 
the  planning  of  a  course  of  study  along  the  same  lines. 

Varied  in  quantity  of  subject  matter :  examples.  —  The  minimum 
assignment  was  that  expected  of  all  pupils  in  a  given  class,  while 
the  maximum  was  the  assignment  given  to  the  more  capable.  .  .  . 
The  two  were  supposed  to  differ  merely  in  the  quantity  of  subject 
matter.  For  example,  in  a  geography  lesson  on  [a  foreign  country], 
the  minimum  assignment  was  a  certain  portion  of  the  text,  with 
an  addition,  for  the  maximum,  of  reports  on  such  information  as 
[its]  government,  its  military  system,  the  growth  of  certain  cen- 
ters of  industry,  effect  of  certain  physical  features,  points  of  his- 
torical and  artistic  interest,  etc.  A  certain  minimum  arithmetic 
assignment  consisted  of  ten  problems  in  local  banking,  while  the 
maximum  provided  several  additional  problems,  one  or  two  of 
which  were  more  difficult ;  also  an  assignment  of  a  future  report 
on  a  special  study  of  banking.  A  seventh-grade  history  assignment 
had  as  the  minimum  the  causes  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  while 
the  maximum  provided  for  a  more  intensive  study  of  certain  causes, 
for  instance,  the  British  idea  of  taxation  and  representation ;  also 
a  search  in  reference  books  for  causes  not  commonly  stated. 
Maximum  assignments  in  the  above  or  other  subjects  might  pro- 
vide merely  more  extensive  subject  matter  in  a  lesson  or  more 
intensive  preparation  of  certain  phases  of  it.  The  minimum  as- 
signment in  every  case  was  the  quantity  of  work  it  was  reasonable 
to  expect  of  the  majority  of  the  slower  ones  in  the  class.  The  sum 
total  of  such  assignments  for  the  term  had  to  be  sufficient  to  give  at 
least  the  minimum  preparation  for  the  next  term's  work. 

Increased  promotion  rate.  —  The  results  of  the  experiment  were 
tabulated  at  the  close  of  the  school  year  and  show  the  following 
outcome.  In  some  few  schools  there  was  no  noticeable  difference 
in  the  promotion  rate,  due  in  most  instances  to  the  fact  that  the 
teacher  was  inexperienced  or  was  new  to  the  city.  ...  At  least 
nine  tenths  of  the  corps  found  that  the  scheme  has  greatly  in- 
creased the  promotion  rates.  The  average  gain  for  the  entire  city 
was  1 8  per  cent.  .  .  .  The  plan  operated  easily  and  brought  best 
results  where  the  teacher  had  all  pupils  of  one  half-grade  and  in 
grades  organized  on  the  departmental  system  where  there  were 
several  sections  in  each  half -grade.  (5:  219-220) 


282        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Special  technique  needed  with  varied  assignments.  —  The 
effective  carrying  out  of  such  a  scheme  of  varied  assign- 
ments necessitates  (i)  careful,  detailed  formulation  of  the 
course  of  study  in  each  grade  ;  (2)  printed  or  mimeographed 
outlines  of  the  minimum  and  supplementary  assignments ; 
and  (3)  facilities  for  supplementary  study,  including  supple- 
mentary books  in  the  classrooms,  school  library,  public 
library,  and  in  the  homes.  Moreover,  a  special  technique 
is  needed  to  avoid  overstimulating  the  ambitious,  nervous 
pupils,  neglecting  the  poor  pupils,  and  overworking  the 
teacher.  In  the  article  quoted  above,  E.  H.  Drake  gives  an 
account  of  the  experiences  in  the  Elkhart  schools  in  devising 
such  a  technique. 

Examples  of  equipment,  assignments,  and  technique 
for  supplementary  individual  work.  —  The  following  para- 
graphs describe  practices  actually  followed  by  teachers  in 
organizing  supplementary  assignments.  The  statements  were 
written  by  experienced  teachers  in  the  author's  summer  classes. 
The  first  one  is  by  a  teacher  of  eleven  years'  experience. 

In  the  first  grade. — This  is  actually  what  I  have  done  with  first- 
graders  [writes  the  teacher].  It  is  actual  experience,  not  mere  theory. 

It  does  not  take  me  long  by  grouping  and  regrouping  a  class 
or  three  dozen  or  more  first-graders  to  get  into  one  group  four  or 
five  who  can  go  faster  than  the  rest  of  the  class.  These  pupils  do 
the  work  of  the  regular  division  that  they  are  in  and  then,  since 
they  get  through  so  much  more  quickly,  blackboard  work  with 
harder  material  is  waiting  for  them  "  over  in  the  corner."  Or, 
if  they  finish  their  occupation  lesson,  they  get  a  supplementary 
reader  from  the  bookrack  "  in  another  corner,"  and  read  to  them- 
selves ;  later  they  have  a  few  minutes'  opportunity  to  read  orally 
to  me,  to  make  sure  they  have  mastered  the  mechanics  of  reading. 
Later  in  the  year,  they  tell  what  they  read  about.  I  encourage 
bright  children  to  take  my  supplementary  readers  home  to  read 
to  mamma,  not  mamma  to  child.  I  also  encourage  them  in  bring- 
ing their  own  material.  I  can  often  get  new  books  in  that  way 
and  we  exchange,  so  each  child  reads  the  others'  books. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY 


283 


In  arithmetic  I  have  sets  of  graded  "  number  "  cards,  the  sets 
getting  "  harder  "  and  "  harder."  These  cards  the  bright  ones  use 
at  odd  times  to  avoid  wasting  their  time  and  to  increase  their  skill 
with  numbers.  I  make  the  cards  myself.  The  following  are 
samples  of  flash  cards  requiring  only  the  answers  and  used  by 
the  children  in  drilling  themselves. 


One  set 


Another  set 


Another  set 


Another  set 


1 
1 

\2 


1 

10 
1 


You  see  these  become  harder  and  harder.  I  keep  these  sets 
and  pass  them  to  the  three  or  four  bright  children,  and  as  they 
can  do  the  easier  ones,  I  give  harder  ones. 

In  the  construction  work,  each  pupil's  handiwork  is  praised  and 
preserved  and  extra  models  requested  and  preserved. 

As  a  special  incentive  to  the  bright  pupils  in  reading  to  apply 
themselves,  I  excuse  a  few  from  the  room  to  go  to  read  to  the 
principal  (he  is  always  delighted  (?)  when  he  is  so  busy).  This  is 
worth  all  the  praise  of  anybody.  Again  they  "  visit "  the  next 
higher  section.  For  instance,  when  the  brighter  ones  have  covered 
all  the  required  ground  and  are  on  "  tiptoe  "  ready  for  more,  they 
are  allowed  to  "  visit "  (it  may  be  in  the  second  grade)  and  try 
their  wits  against  the  children  there.  Nearly  always  this  is  near 


284       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

the  end  of  the  term.  The  first  week  the  pupils  visit  an  hour,  the 
next  week  they  stay  half  a  day,  and  if  these  quick,  bright  "  shining 
stars  "  are  capable  enough,  they  go  on  to  the  second  grade  and 
cease  to  be  a  "  visitor  in  their  home  "  but  become  a  real  wide- 
awake second-grader.  I  never  hold  the  bright  ones  back.  Group- 
ing and  regrouping  sends  them  on  to  the  next  higher  division 
after  they  can  read  fluently  and  independently  in  any  first-grade 
reader.  I  keep  always  at  least  six  different  kinds  of  first  readers 
and  turn  from  one  to  the  other,  so  as  to  strengthen  the  first- 
grader's  vocabulary. 

Every  term  a  few,  four  or  five  pupils,  go  to  the  next  higher 
section  and  stay.  I  hardly  ever  have  complaints  that  the  bright 
ones  I  send  up  are  behind  the  class  they  enter.  I  keep  inquiring 
to  see  if  I  am  sending  on  pupils  too  fast.  If  I  am,  I  "  slow  up  " 
and  don't  push  so  fast  the  next  group  of  "  shining  stars." 

Further  technique  in  first  grade.  —  Another  first-grade 
teacher  described  the  library  table  which  was  supplied  in 
the  corner  of  the  room  for  supplementary  activities,  includ- 
ing cutting  up  old  magazines  to  secure  pictures  for  language 
work  and  words  for  reading  drill.  Two  special  points  of 
technique  she  brought  out  in  the  following  paragraphs : 

Low  cupboard.  —  All  supplementary  materials  are  kept  in  a  low 
cupboard  which  is  easy  for  the  children  to  reach  and  to  keep  in 
order.  Children  cannot  stand  on  tiptoe  on  a  chair  and  reach  as 
far  as  they  can  for  something  without  disarranging  the  other 
materials  and  should  not  be  expected  to  do  so. 

Children  trained  to  use  judgment.  —  I  try  as  far  as  possible  to 
teach  my  pupils  to  judge  for  themselves  when  they  have  finished 
their  work  and  are  ready  for  extra  work.  For  example,  the  chil- 
dren had  been  assigned  a  lesson  in  their  regular  textbooks  for 
study.  They  were  given  several  different  questions  to  find  out  the 
answers  and  were  told  that  when  they  had  finished  that  work  they 
might  go  to  the  shelf  and  get  a  new  book ;  a  set  having  been 
received  that  morning. 

The  children  hastily  read  the  material  given  them,  and  one  or 
two  immediately  went  for  the  new  books  before  they  could  answer 
the  questions  asked. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  285 

At  recitation  time,  these  children  were  questioned  about  their 
reading  lesson  and  the  rest  of  the  children  were  asked  to  decide 
whether  it  was  fair  for  the  children  to  go  after  the  new  books 
before  they  had  their  lesson.  Of  course  the  class  said  no,  and  the 
children  were  more  or  less  in  disgrace  with  their  classmates  for 
some  time. 

If  the  privilege  is  too  much  abused,  I  take  it  away  from  the 
entire  class  for  one  day,  and  public  sentiment  is  strong  enough  to 
force  the  unconscientious  pupil  to  do  what  he  should. 

Similar  technique  in  middle  grades.  —  Obviously,  if  first- 
grade  children  can  be  trained  to  use  supplementary  materials 
for  spare  moments  as  has  been  described,  it  is  a  relatively 
simple  matter  to  organize  a  similar  technique  with  older 
children.  Consequently,  one  further  example  will  suffice  to 
illustrate  the  practice  of  a  teacher  in  the  middle  grades  as 
she  describes  it  in  the  following  paragraphs  : 

I  have,  in  one  corner  of  the  room,  two  kindergarten  tables 
placed  together  so  as  to  form  one  fairly  large  table.  On  this  table 
I  have  placed  several  books  of  good  short  stories.  There  are  also 
short  stories  cut  from  newspapers  or  magazines  and  pasted  on 
cardboard.  On  another  similar  table  I  have  railroad  folders,  books 
of  travel,  and  short  stories  of  children  of  other  countries.  Where 
a  pupil  has  satisfactorily  completed  his  study  lesson  in  arithmetic 
or  geography  or  any  subject,  he  goes  to  the  table  which  we  are 
using  for  that  week,  gets  a  book,  and  takes  his  seat.  (We  alternate 
the  material,  some  weeks  using  stories  for  mere  drill  in  rapid  silent 
reading  and  some  weeks  the  travels  for  facts  about  the  world.) 

When  the  recitation' is  called,  if  it  is  an  oral  recitation,  I  watch 
closely  those  pupils  who  have  done  supplementary  work,  and  if 
their  other  work  has  suffered,  they  are  deprived  of  the  privilege 
of  going  to  the  table  until  their  own  work  improves.  If  the  work 
is  written,  each  pupil  who  did  supplementary  work  during  the 
study  hour  places  "  S  "  on  the  top  of  his  paper,  and  grades  which 
are  not  satisfactory  are  dealt  with  in  a  like  manner.  I  have 
found  by  making  clear  these  results  early  in  the  year  that  after 
a  few  examples  I  seldom  have  to  resort  to  the  enforcement 
of  the  rule. 


286       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

When  the  pupils  report  on  their  supplementary  reading  is  the 
most  interesting  time  of  all.  During  the  week,  usually  on  Friday, 
we  will  find  a  time  for  "  discussions  "  or  "  Supplementary  Table 
Talks."  Then,  if  it  is  story  week,  we  hear  reports  of  the  stories 
read ;  not  stories  retold,  as  that  would  be  a  useless  waste  of  time, 
but  each  pupil  is  asked  to  tell  some  point  in  a  story  which  appealed 
to  him.  We  discuss  different  stories  together,  which  ones  we  like 
best  and  why,  certain  characters  we  liked  and  why.  I  find  it  an 
excellent  help  for  silent  reading.  If  it  is  a  week  for  travels,  we 
do  the  same  thing,  except  that  we  discuss  various  countries  or  parts 
of  our  own,  or  take  imaginary  journeys. 

The  supplementary  work  is  often  varied  at  the  children's  own 
suggestion.  For  example,  we  decide  next  week  we  will  all  bring 
in  all  the  stories  we  can  find  about  a  certain  country,  a  certain 
man,  by  a  certain  author,  on  a  certain  subject,  etc.  Then  for  the 
week  we  will  study  them. 

These  discussions  are  excellent  language  drill.  They  give  the 
ideas  to  the  slower  pupils  who  have  not  had  the  chance  to  read, 
and,  as  no  one  child  likes  to  be  left  out  of  the  discussion,  they  are 
an  excellent  stimulus  for  good  class  work. 

Among  the  stories  we  often  find  one  which,  at  the  pupil's  own 
suggestion,  we  can  dramatize.  Then  comes  interesting  work. 

Enriched  education  from  tise  of  spare  moments. —  Finally, 
we  may  notice  the  general  educational  results  which  follow 
in  rooms  where  the  teachers  have  carefully  organized  sup- 
plementary work  for  the  spare  moments  of  rapid  learners. 
Quite  a  liberal  education  may  frequently  be  acquired  by 
such  pupils  just  from  the  supplementary  work  which  they 
do.  A  principal  of  a  building  described  such  results  in  the 
case  of  a  sixth-grade  teacher  who  arranged  in  her  room  a 
supply  of  books  on  history,  geography,  and  science  selected 
from  the  school  library.  The  principal  wrote  as  follows 
concerning  the  teacher : 

Her  pupils  have  the  most  extensive  reading  habits  of  any  room 
in  the  building,  and  are  the  best-informed  grade  in  school  on  the 
outside  world. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  287 

Administrative  provisions  for  the  fast  and  slow.  Indi- 
vidual promotions.  —  Adequate  practical  provision  for  the 
slow  and  the  fast  pupils  calls  not  only  for  varied  assign- 
ments and  teaching  but  also  for  the  promotion  of  each  pupil 
according  to  his  individual  needs.  The  necessity  and  value 
of  special  promotions  for  very  bright  pupils  are  suggested 
by  the  following  typical  example : 

Robert  was  twelve  years  old,  beginning  the  second  half  of  the 
eighth  grade.  His  teachers  reported  him  indifferent,  doing  only 
ordinary  work  and  inclined  to  be  the  center  of  schoolroom  disorder 
and  organized  insurrection.  Parents  noted  that,  though  previously 
much  interested  in  school,  the  boy  now  disliked  to  attend ;  he  dis- 
liked the  teachers  and  wanted  to  drop  out.  Robert  insisted  that 
the  studies  were  not  interesting,  that  he  knew  all  he  wanted  to 
know  about  them  already.  Mental  [tests  showed  that  he  had  at- 
tained] a  mental  age  probably  greater  than  that  of  some  of  his 
teachers,  who  bored  him  to  death  by  treating  him  as  an  ordinary 
twelve-year-old.  He  was  recommended  to  high  school,  entered 
three  weeks  late,  led  his  class  at  the  end  of  six  weeks  and  at  every 
subsequent  interval  when  marks  were  given.  More  important,  his 
whole  attitude  toward  school  was  changed,  because  the  advanced 
work  was  a  real  challenge  to  his  mental  ability.  (29 :  29) 

Even  the  failures  may  be  helped  by  promotion.  —  The 
careful  organization  and  administration  of  such  individual  pro- 
motions on  a  large  scale  in  actual  practice  is  well  described  by 
Superintendent  C.  S.  Meek  in  an  article  in  the  Elementary 
School  Journal  for  April,  1915,  Vol.  XV,  pp.  421-431. 
Principals  and  superintendents  should  read  this  article  care- 
fully. One  of  its  most  striking  features  is  the  description  of 
the  individual  promotions  of  dull  pupils  who  have  really 
failed  according  to  ordinary  standards.  Concerning  these 
cases,  Meek  says : 

The  standard  for  promoting  the  dull  pupil  is  entirely  individual. 
He  is  not  compelled  to  do  all  the  work  of  his  present  grade  before 
he  is  permitted  to  pass  to  the  next  He  is  even  allowed  to  pass 


288        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

on  without  manifesting  enough  ability  to  justify  the  hope  that  he 
may  be  able  to  do  the  work  of  the  advanced  grade.  The  question 
is  reduced  to  the  one  consideration,  Would  he  do  better  if  advanced 
than  he  would  as  a  repeater  ? 

In  every  grade  of  twenty  which  is  promoted  in  Boise,  there  is 
an  average  of  two  who  have  not  satisfactorily  completed  the  work 
of  the  lower  grade.  These  are  accepted  by  the  teacher  as  special 
cases  to  which  she  is  expected  to  give  individual  attention  both  in 
and  out  of  school  hours.  She  is  not  held  responsible  for  the  work 
of  the  special  pupil,  but  is  given  credit  for  all  progress  that  she 
can  stimulate.  She  gets  the  enthusiastic  cooperation  of  the  home, 
for  the  parents  know  that  their  unfortunate  offspring  has  been 
treated  generously  and  leniently.  They  thus  aid  in  every  possible 
way  to  bring  their  child  up  to  the  standard.  This  policy  of  dealing 
with  laggards  has  the  indorsement  of  the  great  majority  of  teachers. 
The  consensus  of  opinion  is  that  those  who  are  permitted  thus  to 
advance  more  nearly  approach  the  standard  of  the  advanced  grade 
than  they  would  of  the  lower  grade  had  they  been  compelled  to 
repeat.  This  is  not  surprising  when  one  considers  how  little  there 
is  in  the  curriculum  that  is  so  connected  and  consecutive  that  one 
year's  work  depends  upon  the  completion  of  the  subjects  of  the 
previous  year.  (8  :  423) 

Encouragement  and  confidence  stimulate  promoted  lag- 
gards to  better  efforts.  —  The  success  of  the  practice  of  pro- 
moting retarded  pupils  finds  further  explanation  in  the 
greater  confidence  and  interest  which  it  inspires  in  the  pro- 
moted laggards.  In  speaking  of  the  stimulating  effect  of  feel- 
ings of  confidence  and  success  and  the  opposite  depression 
resulting  from  failure,  Freeman  says : 

Confidence  in  one's  ability  results  in  the  stimulation  of  one's 
mental  and  physical  power  and  in  the  release  of  energy  for  the 
task.  The  consciousness  of  failure  and  the  expectation  of  failure, 
on  the  other  hand,  result  in  the  drying  up  of  the  sources  of  one's 
energy.  .  .  .  Confidence  [is  greatly  affected  by]  previous  success. 
However  one  may  endeavor  to  work  up  artificially  a  feeling  of 
confidence,  one  is  always  influenced  to  some  degree  by  previous 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  289 

failure  or  success  in  this  particular  sort  of  work,  or  in  work  in 
general.  As  a  consequence  of  this  fact  it  is  necessary  that  the 
work  of  the  child  be  so  managed  that  he  shall  possess  the  required 
degree  of  confidence  in  his  ability.  .  .  .  This  paralyzing  effect  of 
failure  is  evident  in  the  case  of  children  who  have  to  repeat  a 
grade.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  observation  that  such  children 
never  work  so  hard  as  those  who  are  taking  the  grade  for  the  first 
time.  Children  who  have  failed  in  part  of  their  work  have  been 
found  to  do  better  work  if  they  were  promoted  than  if  they  were 
made  keenly  conscious  of  their  failure  by  being  forced  to  repeat  a 
grade.  (27:  305-306) 

Supervised    study    periods   for    individual    teaching.  — 

Another  administrative  provision  which  is  necessary  in  order 
to  secure  appropriate  individual  teaching  and  advancement 
is  to  include  in  the  daily  program  regular  periods  for  teach- 
ing individuals  and  supervising  their  study.  There  may  be 
a  single  period  or  several  study  periods  a  day  during  which 
such  teaching  is  carried  on.  The  most  successful  example 
of  such  organization  on  a  large  scale  was  instituted  some 
years  ago  in  Batavia,  New  York,  and  is  described  at  length 
in  W.  C.  Bagley's  "  Classroom  Management,"  chap.  xiv. 
The  results  of  fourteen  years'  experience  with  the  plan  are 
described  by  Superintendent  Kennedy  of  Batavia  in  the 
Elementary  School  Teacher,  June,  1912,  Vol.  XII,  pp.  449- 
459.  Both  of  these  references  should  be  read  by  principals 
and  superintendents  who  are  interested  in  meeting  the  needs 
of  individual  pupils. 

Scientific,  objective,  precise  studies  of  individual  differ- 
ences. Amounts  of  difference.  —  Up  to  this  point  in  our 
discussion,  by  means  of  examples  of  monotones,  varied  drill 
lessons  on  fundamentals,  supplementary  assignments  for 
bright  pupils,  etc.,  we  have  presented  a  general  view  of  the 
opinions  and  practices  which  prevail  in  varying  class  instruc- 
tion and  promotions  to  meet  the  needs  of  individual  pupils. 
We  shall  now  take  up  a  more  scientific  discussion  of  the 


290       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

topic  as  the  term  scientific  is  used  on  page  1 10  above ;  that 
is,  we  shall  present  results  of  investigations  that  are  mathe- 
matically precise,  objective,  verifiable,  expert,  and  impartial. 
The  first  question  which  we  shall  consider  with  mathematical 
precision  is  the  amount  of  difference  in  ability  between  the 
brightest  and  the  slowest  children  in  the  same  class. 

Reading  rates.  —  One  of  the  most  objective  examples  of 
such  differences  is  found  in  the  rate  of  silent  reading  —  words 
per  minute.  How  many  words  per  minute  would  you  expect 
the  slowest  child  and  the  fastest  child  in  a  third-grade  class 
to  read  if  they  were  carefully  tested  while  reading  a  simple 
story  according  to  the  following  directions  ? 

Courtis  Silent  Reading  Test.  —  Directions  to  be  read  aloud  by 
teacher  and  pupils  together. 

This  test  is  given  to  see  how  well  you  can  read  to  yourself. 
When  the  signal  to  start  is  given,  open  the  cover  and  begin  to 
read  the  story.  Read  silently,  and  only  as  fast  as  you  can  get  the 
meaning ;  for  when  you  have  finished,  you  will  be  asked  to  answer 
questions  about  what  you  have  read.  You  will  be  marked  for  both 
how  much  you  read  and  how  well  you  understand  it,  but  it  is  better 
to  get  the  meaning  of  the  story  than  to  read  too  fast. 

When  the  examiner  says  "  Mark,"  draw  a  line  around  the  last 
word  read,  and  keep  right  on  reading.  If  you  should  finish  before 
the  examiner  says  "  Stop,"  close  your  paper  and  wait  quietly  until 
the  others  finish. 

In  a  well-graded,  small  class,  fastest  pupil's  rate  equals 
twice  the  slowest.  —  The  following  table  shows  the  number 
of  words  per  minute  actually  read  silently  by  the  children  of 
a  third-grade  class  (3  B)  containing  19  children. 

1  child       read  from    76  to  100  words  per  minute 
8  children     "       "      101  to  125      " 

4       "          "       ".    126  to  150      "       " 
3        "          "       "      151  to  175      "       " 

2  "          "       "      176  to  200      " 

i  child          "       "      201  to  225      "       "        « 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY 


291 


It  will  be  noticed  that  the  fastest  child  read  more  than 
twice  as  fast  as  the  slowest.  Similar  differences  appear  in 
the  other  grades,  as  shown  in  the  table  below ;  for  example, 
the  slowest  children  in  6  A  read  from  151  to  175  words  per 
minute,  while  the  fastest  read  from  376  to  400  words.  A  page 
of  this  book  contains  about  400  words ;  hence  if  it  contained 
easy  story  material  the  fastest  reader  in  the  sixth  grade 
would  read  a  page  in  about  one  minute,  while  the  slowest 
would  take  more  than  two  minutes. 


COURTIS  SILENT  READING  TEST 
(The  University  of  Chicago  Elementary  School) 


NUMBER  OF  PUPILS 

Words  read  per  minute 

Grade  3  B 

Grade  4  A 

Grade  6  A 

76-100     

I 

8 
4 
3 

2 
I 

I 

o 
o 

2 

5 
7 
4 
i 
i 

2 

I 
4 

10 

3 

2 
I 
I 

1 

101—125     

126—150     

»5»-i75    
176-200    
201-225    
226—250    

251—271;    . 

276-^00 

1OI—  12Z 

•326—  T;O 

•ICI—  -I7C 

376-400        

19 

21 

26 

In  larger  classes,  fastest  reading  rate  equals  three  or 
four  times  the  slowest.  —  The  above  differences  were  found 
in  the  Elementary  School  of  The  University  of  Chicago, 
where  the  children  are  very  carefully  graded  into  small 
classes  and  individual  promotions  and  demotions  are  care- 
fully made.  In  public-school  classes  where  larger  groups 


292        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

prevail,  and  individual  adjustments  are  less  frequent,  slightly 
greater  differences  often  occur,  as  shown  by  the  following 
results  from  the  same  test: 


COURTIS  SILENT  READING  TEST 

(Results  from  large  classes,  not  closely  graded l 
Read  each  row  horizontally) 


NUMBER 
OF  PUPILS 

GRADE 

SLOWEST  RATES 

FASTEST  RA-ES 

SLOWEST  DIVIDED 
INTO  FASTEST  RATES 

47 
54 

III 
IV 

40  to  59 
60  to  79 

220  to  239 
260  to  279 

about  4 
about  3 

Even  greater  differences  in  arithmetic  scores.  Fastest 
equals  eight  times  slozvest.  —-  When  we  turn  from  differ- 
ences in  reading  rate  to  differences  in  speed  in  working 
arithmetic  problems  an  even  greater  contrast  appears  between 
the  slow  and  the  fast  pupils.  For  example,  Courtis  reports 
from  tests  of  a  New  York  City  eighth  grade  containing 
48  children  the  following  results  in  an  arithmetic  test. 
(23:  333) 

8  children  made  a  score  of  10 

ii 
12 

i3 
14 

'5 
16 

'7 


i  child       made  a  score  of  2 

o  children 

2 

6         "  "  " 

4 
6 

4 

««  H  H 

4 


3 

4 

4 

3 

5 

3 

6 

i  child 

7 

o  children 

8 

i  child 

9 

i     " 

Quality  of  arithmetical  thinking  less  restricted  by  physio- 
logical limits.  —  From  this  table  it  appears  that  the  slow- 
est child  made  a  score  of  2,  while  the  brightest  made  a 
score  of  17,  or  eight  times  as  large  as  the  slowest.  This 

1  These  results  were  kindly  furnished  by  Mr.  S.  A.  Courtis  from  his 
private  files. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  293 

difference  is  greater  than  that  found  in  the  case  of  reading- 
rates  where  the  fastest  child  read  only  two  to  four  times  as 
fast  as  the  slowest  in  the  same  class.  In  the  case  of  rapid 
silent  reading,  without  skipping,  scarcely  any  adult  reads  at 
a  greater  rate  than  700  words  per  minute.  There  seems  to 
be  a  physiological  limit  which  cannot  be  passed  —  a  limit 
which  is  probably  set  by  the  rapidity  with  which  the  eyes  can 
move  across  the  page  and  see  the  print  during  the  pauses 
which  they  make.  In  the  case  of  arithmetic  problems,  how- 
ever, one's  speed  is  much  less  restricted  by  such  physio- 
logical matters  ;  that  is,  one  can  work  problems  almost  as 
fast  as  one  can  think.  This  fact  probably  explains  the  greater 
disparity  between  the  slow  and  the  fast  in  arithmetic,  the 
difference  between  the  worst  and  the  best  being  largely  a 
difference  in  the  speed  of  thinking  or  the  quality  of  the 
thinking. 

Objective,  precise  measures  of  differences  in  quality  of 
achievement  are  difficult  to  devise.  —  It  is  very  much  more 
difficult  to  compare  and  measure  differences  in  the  quality 
of  mental  products  than  differences  in  the  quantity.  For 
this  reason  we  began  with  rates  of  reading,  —  words  per 
minute, — where  the  measurements  are  in  objective  units 
(number  of  words  and  minutes)  which  are  tangible,  reliable, 
and  easy  to  compare.  In  the  case  of  arithmetic,  the  task  of 
measuring  precisely  differences  in  achievement  is  somewhat 
more  difficult  than  in  rates  of  reading,  owing  to  the  necessity 
of  devising  lists  of  problems  in  which  the  relative  difficulty 
of  the  problems  is  known.  However,  experts  in  educational 
measurement  have  devised  such  lists,  and  the  results  from 
the  Courtis  test  described  on  page  292,  above,  furnish  one 
example  of  their  use.  When  we  try  to  measure  differences 
in  certain  other  abilities,  such  as  the  ability  to  write  compo- 
sitions, the  difficulties  of  precise  measurement  are  greatly 
increased.  However,  even  here  educational  experts  have 
succeeded  in  arranging  sample  compositions  according  to 


294       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY   SCHOOLS 


their  quality  so  as  to  give  us  a  scale  for  measuring  differences 
in  abilities  in  composition.  The  first  scale  for  this  purpose 
was  made  about  1912  by  Professors  Thorndike  and  Hillegas 
after  many  months  of  study  and  experimentation.  The 
sample  composition  which  they  used  in  their  scale  to  repre- 
sent approximately  zero  ability  began  as  follows : 

Dear  Sir :  I  write  to  say  that  it  aint  a  square  deal  Schools  is  I 
say  they  is  I  went  to  a  school,  red  and  gree  green  and  brown  aint. 

Qualities  of  compositions  compared  precisely  by  composi- 
tion scales.  —  In  order  to  devise  a  measurement  scale  for 
comparing  the  composition  abilities  of  sixth-grade  children, 
Breed  and  Frostic  (25)  secured  a  large  number  of  composi- 
tions written  by  such  children  under  exactly  similar  conditions 
upon  the  same  theme.  The  pupils  were  asked  to  finish  in 
writing  a  story  which  told  about  a  picnic  party  of  some  chil- 
dren and  their  teacher.  The  story  described  their  starting  in 
a  motor  boat,  the  engine  of  which  stopped  after  they  had  pro- 
ceeded some  distance.  The  pupils  who  wrote  the  composi- 
tions were  told  to  imagine  what  followed  and  to  complete  the 
story.  One  of  the  poorest  papers  handed  in  read  as  follows  : 


.2 

The  hanjict  shop  for  there 
there  was  so  many  in  it.    After 
a  little  they  it  going.    And 
they  to  pleace  were  the  the  picine 
was.   They  all  get  out  of  the 
hounce  and  but  there  thing 
down 

on  the  table  and  rain  out  to 

play.    After  they  were  platy 

the  had  there  lunce.    And 

They  had  a  very  nice  time. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY 

A  somewhat  better  paper  read  in  part  as  follows 


295 


2.7 

When  the  enginer  stop,  one 
of  the  boy  took  his  shoes  and 

off 

stcocking  v'  and  got  out  into  the 

river  and  bushe  the  bout  a  little 
so  as  to  stare  the  enginer 
a  going,  when  that  had 
stared  the  bowt  went  aright. 
And  they  went  rideing 
around  the  river  where 

having  a  nice  time  went 
one  of  the  girl  saw  a  water  — 

lillies  and  they  try  to  pick  when  she 
fell  in  the  river  but  she  got 
aright,  her  cloth  were  wet 
some  but  they  soon  try,  and 
she  got  her  water  lillies. 

When  they  were  throu- 
ght  rideing  they  got  out  and 


A  composition  of  average  merit  began  thus : 


4.7 

Jack  the  one  who  was  runing 
the  launch  said,  "  lets  take  these  pales 
and  push  the  launch  to  shore.  Yes !  Yes ! 
let  do  said  all ;  we  took  the  poles 
and  tu)  pushed  it  to  shore.  Jack 
got  out  and  looked  around.  He  saw 
a  house  over  yonder,  he  went  over 
to  see  if  they  had  any  gasoline, 
when,     he  got  there  and  ask  they 
had  none.  When  he  came  back 


296       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 
The  best  composition  had  the  following  beginning : 


9.7 

"  What  is  the  matter ''?  asked  Miss  Green, 
the  teacher  of  the  school,  to  the  man  who 
was  running  the  little  launch.    "  I'm 
sorry  mam,"  he  said,  "  But  the  gasoline 
has  given  out."    Some  of  the  more  timid 
children  began  to  cry.    "  Hush,"  said  the 
teacher  a  little  sternly,  "  We  cannot  let 
this  accident  spoil  our  picnic."    "  Why 
can't  we  have  our  lunch  right  in  the 
boat  ?  "  cried  Mary,  Brightly.    "  That  is 
a  fine  idea,  Mary,"  the  teacher  said 
gratefully.    With  the  help  of  the  pupils 
Miss  Green  managed  to  set  the  lunch 
on  the  floor  of  the  boat.    After  lunch 
their  spirits  began  to  rise,  and  they  amused 
themselves  by  telling  stories. 

All  this  while  they  were  drifting 
along  quietly.  "  There  is  a  launch 
coming  towards  us  !  "  exclaimed  a  small 


Enormous  difference  in  quality  between  best  and  poorest 
compositions  from  a  class.  —  By  careful  scientific  procedure 
Breed  arranged  the  compositions  upon  a  scale  of  merit  in 
which  the  poorest  one  given  above  received  a  rank  of  .2, 
the  second  one  a  rank  of  2.7,  and  the  best  a  rank  of  9.7. 
If  these  numerical  values  may  be  compared,  we  might  say 
that  the  excellent  composition  is  48  times  as  good  as  the 
poorest  and  3.6  times  as  good  as  the  second  one.  However 
uncertain  such  precise  comparisons  of  quality  may  be,  the 
compositions  illustrate  the  enormous  disparity  that  exists 
between  the  poorest  and  brightest  sixth-grade  pupils  in  com- 
position. While  the  brightest  might  write  attractive  stories 
with  few  suggestions  from  the  teacher,  the  poorest  would  be 
barely  able  to  compose  a  simple  letter  with  great  help. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  297 

In  class  teaching,  adapted  to  the  average,  the  brightest 
pupil  may  mark  time  while  the  poorest  drags  or  flunks.  — 
In  our  comparisons  of  rates  and  qualities  of  school  work  up 
to  this  point  we  have  compared  merely  the  extremes — the 
fast  and  the  slow,  or  the  excellent  and  the  poor.  More 
useful  comparisons  for  the  teacher  to  make  are  found  in 
the  answers  to  the  following  questions  : 

If  the  pace  of  the  instruction  is  adapted  to  the  middle 
part  of  the  class, 

1.  How  much  spare  time  will  the  brightest  pupils  have? 

2.  How  much  too  fast  will  the  pace  be  for  the  slowest 
pupils  ? 

The  general  answers  to  these  questions  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  brightest  pupil  may  have  from  ^  to  ^  of  his  time 
free  to  do  as  he  pleases. 

2.  The  pace  will  be  about  twice  as  fast  as  the  pace  of 
learning  of  the  slowest  pupils ;  that  is,  the  slowest  pupils  will 
be  dragged  along  at  such  a  fast  pace  that  they  will  fail  in 
much  of  the  work.    As  a  result  they  come  to  be  regarded  as 
hopeless  flunkers,  whereas  often  they  could  make  satisfactory 
progress  with  a  slower  pace  and  more  careful  instruction. 

Distribution  of  differences  in  ability.  How  many  fast  and 
how  many  slow  pupils  in  each  class  ?  —  The  precise  mathe- 
matical demonstration  of  such  differences  in  capacities  for 
learning  has  been  the  principal  factor  in  bringing  about  the 
practical  provisions  for  individual  instruction  for  the  slow  and 
supplementary  assignments  for  the  fast  which  were  described 
above  on  pages  280-286.  In  planning  special  provisions  for 
these  extremely  fast  and  extemely  slow  pupils  it  is  desirable 
for  the  teacher  to  understand  what  proportion  of  the  class 
they  are  likely  to  comprise.  This  brings  us  to  the  question 
of  the  distribution  of  differences  in  capacity.  This  distribu- 
tion may  be  illustrated  by  using  the  data  in  the  Courtis 
arithmetic  test  given  in  the  table  on  page  292  to  make  the 
picture  on  page  299. 


298        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


Graphic  representation  of  distribution  of  pupils  by  piles  of 
blocks ;  arithmetic  scores.  —  As  a  first  step  in  our  study 
of  Courtis's  table  let  us  arrange  it  horizontally  (as  shown 
below),  instead  of  vertically. 


Number  of  pupils 

| 

0 

2 

<'. 

4 

6 

4 

4 

8 

4 

3 

3 

i 

o 

i 

i 

Score  based  on  number 
of  problems  done 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

1  1 

12 

»3 

'4 

'5 

16 

i? 

The  first  numerical  vertical  column  of  this  table  reads, 
"  i  pupil  made  a  score  of  2."  The  second  column  reads, 
"o  pupils  made  a  score  of  3."  A  column  near  the  center 
reads,  "  8  pupils  made  a  score  of  10,"  and  the  extreme  right- 
hand  column  reads,  "  i  pupil  made  a  score  of  17." 

We  may  now  represent  these  results  in  graphic  or  pictured 
form  by  the  following  device  :  Imagine  the  lower  horizontal 
row  to  be  written  along  the  blackboard  ledge,  thus  : 


Number  of 
problems  done 

3 

3 

4 

5 

$ 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

'3 

14 

15 

16 

i? 

Then  place  on  the  ledge,  above  each  vertical  column,  one 
wooden  block  for  each  pupil  who  made  the  score  indicated  in 
the  column.  Thus,  above  the  extreme  left-hand  column  we 
would  place  I  block ;  above  the  extreme  right-hand  column 
we  would  place  i  block ;  above  the  column  for  a  score  of 
10  we  would  pile  8  blocks,  i  for  each  pupil  who  made  this 
score.  After  we  had  completed  all  the  columns  of  blocks, 
the  whole  pile  on  the  ledge  would  have  the  appearance 
shown  in  the  figure  on  page  299. 

Rates  of  reading.  —  We  get  a  somewhat  similar  form 
of  distribution  if  we  pile  blocks  to  represent  the  sixth-grade 
reading  rates  shown  in  the  table  on  page  291.  To  carry 
out  the  process  with  these  rates,  first  imagine  the  columns 
written  horizontally,  as  follows : 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY 


299 


Number  of  pupils 

2 

I 

4 

10 

3 

I 

2 

I 

I 

I 

IS' 

I76 

201 

226 

251 

276 

301 

326 

351 

376 

Words  per  minute 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

175 

2OO 

22S 

250 

275 

300 

325 

350 

375 

400 

Then  imagine  the  lower  row  written  along  the  blackboard 
ledge  and  above  each  vertical  division  on  the  ledge  pile  the 


BLOCKS  PILED  ON  BLACKBOARD  LEDGE  TO  REPRESENT 
DISTRIBUTION  OF  ARITHMETIC  SCORES 

The  single  block  at  the  left  indicates  that  i  pupil  made  a  score  of  2.  The  block  at 

the  extreme  right  indicates  that  i  pupil  made  a  score  of  17.    The  tallest  column 

indicates  that  8  pupils  made  a  score  of  10 

number  of  blocks  corresponding  to  the  number  of  pupils  that 
have  read  the  amount  indicated.  This  procedure  gives  the 
figure  shown  on  page  300. 

Normal  frequency  surface ;  middle  abilities  frequent ; 
extreme  abilities  infrequent.  —  It  appears  that  the  piles  of 
blocks  (or  distribution  surfaces)  for  abilities  in  arithmetic  and 
reading  are  similar  in  general  form  ;  that  is,  the  middle  abili- 
ties are  piled  high  with  several  pupils,  while  the  extremes 
are  low — in  other  words,  there  are  few  bright  pupils  and  few 
dull  ones.  If  a  larger  number  of  pupils  were  tested  (there 


300        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

were  48  in  the  arithmetic  class  and  26  in  the  reading  class), 
the  piles,  or  surfaces,  would  tend  to  assume  the  general  form 
shown  in  the  figure  on  page  301,  which  represents  the 
heights  of  1000  ten-year-old  boys,  distributed  by  a  somewhat 
similar  device,  each  boy  being  represented  by  a  short  hori- 
zontal line  instead  of  a  block.  In  general,  measurements  of 


BLOCKS  PILED  ON   BLACKBOARD  LEDGE  TO  INDICATE  DISTRIBUTION 
OF  READING  RATES  OF  PUPILS  IN  GRADE  6  A 

The  tall  shaky  column  indicates  that  10  pupils  read  from  226  to  250  words  per 

minute.  What  do  the  2  blocks  at  the  extreme  left  indicate  ?   The  single  block  at  the 

extreme  right  indicates  what  ? 


any  human  trait,  physical  or  mental,  in  a  group  of  person 
of  the  same  type  and  age  tend  to  show  this  form  of  distribu 
tion.    It  is  known  as  the  normal-frequency  surface  or,  when 
shown  in  outline  as  at  the  bottom  of  page  301,  as  the  normal- 
frequency  curve  or  normal  distribution  curve. 

Only  a  few  pupils  need  special  attention  and  assignments 
in  each  subject.  — With  a  knowledge  of  this  form  of  dis- 
tribution of  abilities  in  spelling  or  arithmetic  or  reading  or 
handwork,  the  teacher  should  form  the  habit  of  thinking 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  301 

of  most  of  her  pupils  as  clustered  or  compacted  with  slight 
variation  near  the  middle  or  average  ability,  but  with  a  few 


I  -  -  I |=====i=====f=====|=====|=====|=====|=====|=====|— -  | 

t09cm  na        lit       lit       ins       izd       isa      isr      141       u&      us      tsacm 

APPROXIMATE  NORMAL  SURFACE  OF  FREQUENCY,  REPRESENTING  IN 

CENTIMETERS  STATURE  OF  1000  TEN-YEAR-OLD  AMERICAN    BOYS 


bright  ones  and  a  few  slow  ones  far  removed  from  the  aver- 
age.   For  most  of  the  class,  the  same  instruction  and  the 


109 cm  na      111      mi       its      na      isa      137      iti       us       us      isacm 

APPROXIMATE  NORMAL  DISTRIBUTION  CURVE.  SAME  DATA  AS  THAT 
PRESENTED  ABOVE,  BUT  REPRESENTED  HERE  IN  OUTLINE 

From  Thorndike's  "  Individuality  " 

same  pace  in  any  subject  will  be  suitable,  but  for  the  few 
extreme  pupils  special  provision   must   be  made   to  avoid 


302        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

having  the  bright,  useful  pupils  wasting  their  time,  and  also 
to  avoid  having  the  slow  ones  dragged  along  a_t  such  a  rate 
that  they  become  "  flunkers  "  and  fail  to  progress  through 
the  school  and  receive  the  training  that  each  of  the  higher 
grades  has  to  offer. 

Causes  of  individual  differences.  Why  do  some  learn  easily 
and  others  with  difficulty? — Up  to  this  point  in  our 
scientific  study  of  individual  differences  in  ability  we  have 
treated  the  amount  of  difference  and  the  form  of  dis- 
tribution. We  shall  now  consider  briefly  the  causes  of  the 
differences :  that  is,  why  one  person  can  learn  to  spell  easily 
while  another  remains  a  poor  speller  in  spite  of  prolonged 
careful  instruction ;  why  one  pupil  can  master  the  most 
difficult  problems  in  arithmetic  while  another,  who  has  had 
the  same  instruction,  fails  in  the  subject.  Incidentally  we 
referred  to  possible  causes  of  such  differences  in  the  exam- 
ples with  which  the  chapter  opened.  We  noted  in  the  case 
of  monotones  and  sweet  singers  within  the  same  family  that 
the  difference  might  be  explained  by  inheritance  from  the 
father  who  is  a  monotone  and  from  the  mother  who  is 
extremely  musical.  In  the  case  of  the  varied  amounts  of 
drill  needed  in  arithmetic,  we  noted  that  the  difficulties  of 
a  retarded  pupil  might  be  due  to  (i)  inborn  incapacity  or 
(2)  absence,  inattention,  or  poor  teaching.  We  asserted  that  if 
the  latter  cause  prevailed,  the  difficulty  would  often  be  over- 
come by  a  little  skilled  individual  teaching.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  retardation  was  due  to  inborn  incapacity,  it  could 
not  be  overcome  so  easily,  but  called  for  prolonged  patient 
treatment  by  the  teacher  just  to  give  the  child  a  mastery 
of  the  minimum  essentials  in  the  subject. 

Inborn,  native  capacity  is  an  important  factor.  —  In 
order  to  make  clear  the  part  played  by  inborn  capacity  or 
incapacity  for  learning  in  determining  a  pupil's  possibilities 
and  abilities,  we  shall  refer  briefly  to  the  careful,  objective, 
scientific  investigations  that  have  been  made  in  this  field. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  303 

Idiots,  imbeciles,  and  other  feeble-minded  usually  born 
deficient.  —  In  the  case  of  idiots,  imbeciles,  and  other  feeble- 
minded children,  it  is  now  established  by  objective,  precise, 
scientific  studies  that  their  inability  to  learn  is  not  due  to 
lack  of  instruction  or  care,  but  (except  in  the  case  of 
accidents  or  disease)  is  due  to  their  characteristics  at  birth, 
their  inborn  equipment.  Students  who  are  interested  in  delv- 
ing into  the  scientific  evidence  on  this  topic  should  read 
H.  H.  Goddard's  "  Feeble-mindedness,  its  Causes  and  its 
Consequences."  (22.)  Goddard  studied  carefully  the  life  his- 
tories of  some  three  hundred  feeble-minded  persons.  He 
concluded  that  the  feeble-minded  condition  was  clearly  due  to 
heredity  in  54  per  cent  of  the  cases,  and  probably  due  to 
heredity  in  11.3  per  cent  of  the  cases.  His  summary  of 
causes  (22:  437)  is  as  follows: 

Clearly  due  to  heredity 54  per  cent 

Probably  due  to  heredity 11.3  per  cent 

Ancestry  showing  brain  diseases     ...      12  per  cent 

Due  to  accident 19  per  cent 

Unexplained       2.6  per  cent 

Feeble-minded  extremely  limited  by  lack  of  natural  capac- 
ities.—  No  matter  what  the  original  causes,  however,  the 
very  limited  possibilities  of  learning  possessed  by  the  feeble- 
minded appear  in  all  investigations  of  them.  Their  possi- 
bilities in  industrial  training  are  shown  in  the  following  table 
by  Goddard.  The  column  headed  "  Mental  Age  "  indicates 
that  the  idiot,  imbecile,  or  moron,  even  though  he  be  actually 
many  years  older,  possesses  the  mental  possibilities  of  a  child 
from  one  to  twelve  years  of  age,  as  indicated  in  the  classifi- 
cation. Thus  a  high-grade  imbecile,  even  though  he  be 
actually  16  years  of  age,  would  possess  only  the  mental  pos- 
sibilities of  a  normal  child  of  6  or  7.  He  could  learn  to  do 
only  tasks  of  short  duration  such  as  washing  dishes,  dusting, 
or  little  errands  in  the  house.  (22  :  581) 


304        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

INDUSTRIAL  CLASSIFICATION 


MENTAL 
AGE 

INDUSTRIAL  CAPACITY 

GRADE 

Under 
i  year 

(a)  Helpless  ;   (l>)  can  walk  ;   (c)  with  volun- 
tary regard 

Low 

Idiot 

i  year 

Feeds  self.    Eats  everything 

Middle 

2  years 

Eats  discriminatingly  (food  from  non-food) 

High 

3  years 

No  work.    Plays  a  little 

Low 

Imbecile 

4  years 

Tries  to  help 

5  years 

Only  simplest  tasks 

Middle 

6  years 

Tasks  of  short  duration.    Washes  dishes 

High 

7  years 

Little  errands  in  the  house.    Dusts 

8  years 

Errands.    Light  work.    Makes  beds 

Low 

Moron 

9  years 

Heavier  work.    Scrubs.  Mends.   Lays  bricks. 
Cares  for  bathroom 

jo  years 

Good  institution  helpers.    Routine  work 

Middle 

ii  years 

Fairly  complicated  work  with  only  occasional 
oversight 

High 

12  years 

Uses  machinery.    Can  care  for  animals.    No 
supervision  for  routine  work.  Cannot  plan 

The  great  lack  of  natural  capacity  for  ordinary  public- 
school  work  which  exists  in  the  case  of  feeble-minded  chil- 
dren who  are  found  in  public  schools,  and  the  small  amount 
of  progress  which  they  make,  are  suggested  by  the  follow- 
ing summary  from  Wallin's  study  of  some  286  cases  in  the 
St.  Louis  schools.  He  says  : 

We  do  not  seem  to  have  found  any  considerable  number  of 
feeble-minded  school  children  who  are  able  to  do  third-grade  work 
successfully,  except  possibly  in  one  or  two  branches.  The  possible 
pedagogical  attainments  of  the  majority  of  them  have  varied  from 
decidedly  less  than  kindergarten  standard  to  second-grade  standard. 

(H:  597) 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  305 

Genius  and  eminence  largely  due  to  inborn  equipment. 
Galtons  precise,  expert  investigations.  —  In  the  case  of  the 
very  bright  and  capable  learners,  those  who  become  eminent, 
the  geniuses  in  any  line  of  human  thought  or  endeavor,  the 
objective  evidence  is  not  so  easy  to  secure  and  study  as  in 
the  case  of  the  mentally  deficient.  Nevertheless,  skilled  scien- 
tific investigators,  themselves  men  of  genius  and  expert 
masters  of  the  technique  of  studying  human  nature,  have 
spent  years  in  studying  the  lives  of  eminent  persons  by  pre- 
cise objective  methods.  The  greatest  of  these  investigators 
was  Sir  Francis  Galton,  himself  a  member  of  two  eminent 
English  families  —  the  Galtons  and  the  Darwins.  In  1869 
he  published  a  book  called  "  Hereditary  Genius,"  in  which 
he  presented  the  results  of  his  studies  of  about  one  thousand 
eminent  judges,  statesmen,  commanders,  literary  men,  men 
of  science,  poets,  musicians,  oarsmen,  etc.  The  conclusions 
which  Galton  reached  include  the  following  : 

Men  who  are  gifted  with  high  abilities  .  .  .  easily  rise  through 
all  the  obstacles  caused  by  inferiority  of  social  rank. 

Men  who  are  largely  aided  by  social  advantages  are  unable  to 
achieve  eminence,  unless  they  are  endowed  with  high  natural 
gifts.  (23:  361) 

Only  objective,  precise,  expert  investigations  should  be  con- 
sidered. —  Naturally,  many  persons  will  not  believe  Galton 's 
conclusions,  since  they  are  not  prepared  to  understand  them 
any  more  than  they  can  understand  the  work  of  the  most 
advanced  scientists  in  physics,  chemistry,  biology,  astronomy, 
etc.  However,  just  as  the  well-educated  person  accepts  the 
conclusions  of  eminent  astronomers  concerning  the  heavenly 
bodies,  so  will  he  accept  the  conclusions  of  the  expert 
Galton  in  the  studies  of  human  careers.  Moreover,  he  will 
require  that  critics  who  endeavor  to  refute  Galton 's  results 
do  so  by  methods  that  are  as  scientific,  as  objective,  as  mathe- 
matically precise,  and  as  impartial  as  those  which  Galton  used. 


306       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

If  we  do  accept  the  results  of  impartial,  precise,  objec- 
tive, scientific  studies  concerning  mental  defectives  and 
men  of  genius,  we  shall  believe  that  the  differences  in  the 
attainments  of  these  two  extreme  classes  are  due  to  a  very 
large  extent  to  the  differences  in  their  inborn  equipment  of 
capacities  and  instincts. 

Similarly,  mediocre  learners  are  strongly  influenced  by 
inborn  equipment;  Galton  s  study  of  twins.  —  When  we 
turn  from  the  attainments  of  the  extreme  types  to  the  attain- 
ments and  progress  of  ordinary  learners,  we  find  that  the 
same  general  conclusion  prevails  ;  namely,  that  their  original 
inborn  capacities  influence  profoundly  their  possibilities  of 
learning  and  achieving.  A  most  interesting  study  made  by 
Galton  of  twins  give's  us  some  of  our  best  evidence  in  this 
connection.  Galton  secured  accounts  of  the  lives,  character- 
istics, and  attainments  of  some  80  pairs  of  twins  in  England. 
Of  these,  about  20  pairs  consisted  of  dissimilar  twins ;  that 
is,  the  members  of  each  pair  were  quite  unlike  in  their  char- 
acteristics from  birth.  The  evidence  in  these  cases,  while  not 
very  precise,  shows  that  similarity  of  experience  and  training 
had  little  influence  in  overcoming  the  original  differences. 
The  following  statements  by  parents  of  twins  give  character- 
istic examples  of  this  fact. 

One  parent  said  : 

They  have  had  exactly  the  same  nurture  from  their  birth  up  to 
the  present  time;  they  are  both  perfectly  healthy  and  strong,  yet 
they  are  otherwise  as  dissimilar  as  two  boys  could  be,  physically, 
mentally,  and  in  their  emotional  nature. 

Another  parent  said  : 

I  can  answer  most  decidedly  that  the  twins  have  been  perfectly 
dissimilar  in  character,  habits,  and  likeness  from  the  moment  of 
their  birth  to  the  present  time,  though  they  were  nursed  by  the 
same  woman,  went  to  school  together,  and  were  never  separated 
till  the  age  of  fifteen. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  307 

Another  said  : 

They  have  never  been  separated,  never  the  least  differently 
treated  in  food,  clothing,  or  education ;  both  teethed  at  the  same 
time,  both  had  measles,  whooping-cough,  and  scarlatina  at  the  same 
time,  and  neither  had  any  other  serious  illness.  Both  are  and 
have  been  exceedingly  healthy  and  have  good  abilities,  yet  they 
differ  as  much  from  each  other  in  mental  cast  as  any  of  my  family 
differ  from  another. 

Another  said : 

They  were  never  alike  either  in  body  or  mind  and  their  dis- 
similarity increases  daily.  The  external  influences  have  been  iden- 
tical; they  have  never  been  separated. 

Another  said  : 

The  home  training  and  influences  were  precisely  the  same,  and 
therefore  I  consider  the  dissimilarity  to  be  accounted  for  almost 
entirely  by  innate  disposition  and  by  causes  over  which  we  have 
no  control.  (23  :  383) 

Further  reading  on  inborn  capacities.  —  Readers  who 
desire  further  scientific  discussion  of  the  inborn  basis  of 
human  talents  and  achievements,  presented  in  simple  form, 
should  read  E.  R.  Downing's  "  The  Third  and  Fourth  Gen- 
eration "  and  F.  G.  Jewett's  "  The  Next  Generation." 

Treat  each  pupil  sympathetically  according  to  his  talents 
and  deficiencies.  —  From  the  study  of  the  above  paragraphs 
concerning  the  original  nature  of  the  mentally  deficient,  the 
geniuses,  and  twins  of  ordinary  ability,  the  teacher  should 
form  the  attitude  of  being  interested  in  the  inborn  charac- 
teristics of  each  of  her  pupils  as  furnishing  the  funda- 
mental starting  point  for  her  treatment  of  him.  If  the 
pupil  is  naturally  very  weak  in  arithmetic  but  very  talented 
in  art,  she  will  be  satisfied  when  he  has  mastered  the 
fundamentals  in  the  former,  and  will  not  deny  him  pro- 
motion for  his  deficiency.  On  the  other  hand,  in  art  she 


308        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

will  endeavor  to  stimulate  him  to  the  richest  possible  devel- 
opment so  that  he  may  use  his  talent  for  the  great  benefit 
of  himself  and  others. 

Improvability.  Practically  every  capacity  in  a  normal 
child  is  improvable,  —  The  fact  that  each  child's  ability  to 
learn  depends  upon  his  inborn  capacities  should  not  lead  us 
to  be  pessimistic  concerning  the  possibilities  of  educating 
normal  children.  For  example,  although  a  child  with  natural 
musical  talent  may  easily  learn  to  sing  ten  songs  sweetly  and 
accurately  while  a  natural  near-monotone  succeeds  in  learn- 
ing only  one  indifferently,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  near- 
monotone  cannot  be  improved  somewhat  as  a  singer  or  that 
he  should  be  entirely  neglected.  With  sufficient  skilled 
individual  teaching  the  monotone  might  be  taught  to  sing 
with  fair  correctness  "My  Country,  'tis  of  Thee,"  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner,"  and  a  few  other  songs  of  sufficient  social 
importance  to  justify  the  effort  required.  Similarly,  although 
a  bright  young  man  of  my  acquaintance  continued  to  be  a 
relatively  poor  speller  all  his  life  in  spite  of  careful  individual 
teaching  at  home  (while  he  was  in  the  grades  and  high 
school)  by  his  widowed  mother,  herself  a  skilled,  experienced 
teacher,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  instruction  was  futile  or 
that  his  spelling  was  not  greatly  improved  by  it.  Without 
any  instruction  he  would  not  have  been  able  to  spell  at  all ; 
without  the  special  instruction  by  his  mother  he  would  have 
been  an  atrocious  speller ;  whereas,  with  the  school  instruc- 
tion and  the  special  teaching  he  became  merely  a  relatively 
puor  speller,  usually  misspelling  only  two  or  three  words  in 
each  letter  which  he  wrote  his  mother  after  he  went  away 
to  college. 

Amount  of  improvements  to  be  attempted  determined  by 

inborn  capacity  of  the  pupil  and  happiness  of  the  multitudes. 

—  In   deciding    how  much    improvement   to  undertake  in 

school  with  each  child  we  must  consider  his  own  inborn 

capacities  and  the  cost  to  society  of  the  teacher's  time  and 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  309 

effort  in  improving  him.  Obviously,  to  try  to  make  a  grand- 
opera  singer  out  of  a  monotone  is  a  waste  of  time  for  all 
concerned.  A  striking  example  of  the  results  of  such  unde- 
sirable efforts  is  found  in  the  case  of  a  very  successful  movie 
star  and  dramatic  actress  who  for  some  years  was  on  the 
grand-opera  stage.  While  everyone  marveled  at  her  wonder- 
ful acting  in  the  operas,  the  musical  reviewers  were  unani- 
mous in  wishing  that  she  would  not  sing,  since  her  notes 
were  commonly  misplaced,  being  flat  and  unmusical.  On  the 
other  hand,  as  a  movie  star  she  pleased  all  through  her  won- 
derful dramatic  ability  and  made  no  one  uncomfortable  by 
her  flat  singing. 

Almost  every  child  is  good  for  something.  —  Leaving  out 
the  idiots,  imbeciles,  morons,  and  morally  incompetent  chil- 
dren, we  may  say  that  practically  every  child  is  good  for 
something,  meaning  that  he  can  be  made  a  useful  citizen  in 
general,  and  at  least  a  fairly  skilled  worker  in  some  speciat 
line.  It  is  each  teacher's  business  in  the  elementary  school 
to  help  each  child  to  keep  moving  toward  general  social  use- 
fulness as  well  as  specialised  social  usefulness.  In  order  to 
do  this  it  is  important  for  the  teacher  to  realize  the  great 
variety  of  human  capacities  and  the  opportunities  for  each 
to  be  of  service  in  the  world. 

Teacher  should  not  judge  children  merely  in  terms  of  her 
own  capacities.  —  In  order  to  appreciate  the  great  variety 
of  human  capacities  and  corresponding  social  opportunities, 
the  teacher  must  avoid  the  danger  of  judging  her  pupils 
entirely  in  terms  of  her  own  capacities  and  temperament. 
As  Thorndike  says : 

[An]  .  .  .  error  from  which  all  of  us  suffer  is  to  credit  our 
scholars  with  natures  like  our  own.  We  think  of  them  as  dupli- 
cates more  or  less  of  ourselves.  If  we  are  quick  learners,  we  ex- 
pect too  much  of  them ;  if  we  have  sensible,  matter-of-fact  minds, 
we  have  no  patience  with  their  sentimentalities  and  sensitiveness ; 
if  we  are  precise  and  neat  and  systematic,  we  fail  to  understand 


310       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

how  intolerable  it  is  for  them  to  lead  a  regular,  orderly  exist- 
ence. Teachers  need  to  add  to  the  maxim,  "  See  ourselves  as 
others  see  us "  the  still  more  important  one,  "  See  others  as 
they  are."  (3:  84) 

The  teacher  is  usually  one  who  has  [herself  been  successful 
with  abstract  thinking]  and  so  is  more  in  sympathy  with  it.  [She] 
may  even  thoughtlessly  sneer  at  the  mental  ability  of  those  who 
lack  it.  "  Your  son  will  make  a  first-rate  mechanic  or  grocer,  but 
he  isn't  fit  for  high  school,"  said  such  a  one.  The  proper  retort 
would  have  been,  "  Your  school,  then,  is  first-rate  for  one  kind  of 
a  boy,  but  it  isn't  fit  for  the  majority."  (3  :  31) 

Varied  richness  of  human  nature ;  important  capacities. 
—  Many  other  examples  similar  to  those  given  above  could 
be  cited  which  would  reveal  to  us  the  great  variety  of  capaci- 
ties, the  varied  richness  of  human  nature  and  its  possibili- 
ties. A  number  of  the  most  important  of  such  capacities 
are  discussed  in  the  following  paragraphs. 

Expression  through  language.  —  The  capacity  for  expres- 
sion in  language  is  present  in  all  normal  persons  but  in  quite 
varying  degrees.  It  should  be  developed  in  all  persons  to  a 
considerable  extent  for  practical  daily  use,  but  only  those 
with  special  natural  talent  can  become  expert  writers  and 
speakers.  A  specialized  form  of  this  talent  which  presents 
interesting  examples  of  its  inborn  character  is  the  talent  for 
poetic  expression.  The  common  statement  that  "  poets  are 
born  not  made,"  while  it  tends  to  overlook  the  influence  of 
training  in  improving  poetic  expression,  suggests  the  funda- 
mental importance  of  the  inborn  talent.  A  striking  case  of 
such  talent  appeared  in  a  third-grade  child.  At  one  time, 
when  the  teacher  called  on  the  child  to  recite,  the  latter 
said,  "  Excuse  me  a  moment,  Miss  Troxell,  I  am  writing 
a  poem."  The  little  girl  fairly  breathed  poetry;  she  couldn't 
help  it.  Similarly,  the  sixth-grade  child  who  wrote  the  fol- 
lowing verses  probably  ranks  well  above  the  average  in 
inborn  capacity  for  poetic  and  humorous  expression. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  311 

THE  JOYS   OF  SKATING 

When  the  days  are  still  and"  cold, 
And  I'm  feeling  kind  o'  bold, 
Then  I  think  it 's  rather  nice, 
To  go  out  and  try  the  ice. 

I  go  plowing  through  the  snow, 
But  I  know  just  where  to  go, 
To  the  Midway  where  they  skate, 
There  I  '11  go  and  try  my  fate. 

But  when  I  have  gotten  there, 
I  can  only  stand  and  stare, 
For  the  funniest  thing  of  all 
Is,  I  cannot  skate  at  all. 

Expression  through  plastic  and  graphic  art. — The  capac- 
ity for  drawing,  painting,  modeling,  and  designing  should 
probably  be  trained  in  all  pupils  to  the  extent  of  giving  skill 
in  rough  sketching  and  diagrammatic  drawing.  As  developed 
in  those  with  special  talent,  it  makes  possible  the  beautiful 
products  which  we  enjoy  in  pictures,  statuary,  buildings, 
dress,  automobiles,  landscape  architecture,  etc.  Certainly  the 
trained  artists  contribute  greatly  to  our  enjoyment  of  life. 
Opportunities  for  cultivating  in  school  the  capacities  for 
graphic  and  plastic  expression  are  shown  in  the  Frontispiece 
and  in  the  pictures  on  pages  152,  184,  and  312. 

Manual  skill.  —  The  social  importance  of  manual  skill  is 
clearly  shown  by  the  work  of  skilled  artisans  and  mechanics 
in  the  manufacturing  of  the  necessities  and  luxuries  of  life. 
Many  of  the  instruments  of  civilization  designed  by  great 
inventors  depend  for  their  production  upon  the  skill  of  thou- 
sands of  workers.  The  Great  War  has  been  very  influential 
in  developing  a  broader  appreciation  of  the  importance  of 
skilled  labor.  The  capacity  for  acquiring  manual  skill  is  one 
of  the  most  common  of  human  capacities.  Even  some  grades 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  313 

of  feeble-minded  children  who  cannot  learn  reading  or  arith- 
metic can  be  trained  to  do  things  with  their  hands.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  associated  with  good  general  intelligence, 
manual  skill  may  even  be  an  important  factor  in  the  highest 
grade  of  professional  work,  such  as  that  of  the  surgeon  or 
scientific  chemist.  Formerly  the  schools  tended  to  neglect 
the  development  of  this  capacity.  In  a  progressive  school 
at  the  present  time  it  is  cultivated  not  only  in  connection 
with  the  constructive  courses  but  is  also  utilized  in  geog- 
raphy, history,  and  arithmetic  to  vitalize  these  subjects,  espe- 
cially for  the  pupils  who  are  interested  in  working  in  the 
sand  pan,  in  making  dwellings  and  garments  of  historical 
peoples,  in  making  scenery  for  dramatic  activities,  etc.  On 
the  other  hand,  some  very  bright  children  are  naturally  very 
clumsy  in  manual  work,  and  for  them  the  constructive  activi- 
ties are  often  a  great  bore.  In  spite  of  their  natural  defi- 
ciency and  dislike,  however,  they  should  probably  be  given 
sufficient  sympathetic  training  to  enable  them  to  do  such 
odd  jobs  of  tinkering  as  occur  in  the  ordinary  home,  and  to 
understand  the  part  which  skilled  manual  labor  plays  in 
meeting  social  needs.  For  examples  of  school  projects 

Story  of  the  picture  on  opposite  page The  sixth-grade  children 

shown  in  the  picture  on  the  opposite  page  are  illustrating  various 
features  of  deserts,  including  canons,  the  cactus  plants,  etc.  In 
their  geography  periods  they  have  been  studying  the  characteristics 
of  regions  of  varied  rainfall,  from  the  very  dry  to  the  very  wet. 
In  their  drawing  periods  the  same  types  of  regions  are  represented, 
the  drawings  being  discussed  in  the  geography  class.  The  drawings 
depicting  desert  scenes  were  later  used  in  the  morning  exercises 
of  the  assembled  classes,  when  these  children  gave  short  talks  on 
deserts  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  shown  in  the  Frontispiece.  The 
picture  illustrates  the  use  of  the  instinctive  interests  in  commu- 
nication and  artistic  expression  as  well  as  provision  for  individual 
differences,  since  children  with  artistic  talent  who  may  not  succeed  in 
mathematics,  for  example,  may  shine  in  the  work  shown  in  the  picture. 


314       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

which  utilize  the  capacity  for  manual  skill,  see  the  pictures 
on  pages  8,  14,  65,  129,  132,  134,  136,  and  230. 

Capacity  for  musical  enjoyment  and  musical  expression. — 
Musical  talent,  when  properly  developed  to  the  extent  of 
skilled  performing,  contributes  to  life's  enjoyment  as  do  the 
other  arts.  Even  persons  of  mediocre  capacity  acquire  pos- 
sibilities of  frequent  enjoyment  of  home  and  group  singing 
through  a  moderate  amount  of  proper  training.  It  is  prob- 
ably a  waste  of  time  to  try  to  train  extreme  monotones  to 
sing  many  songs,  but  some  of  them  may  be  taught  by  appro- 
priate methods  to  play  musical  instruments  and  to  enjoy 
listening  to  music. 

Arithmetical  computation.  —  As  indicated  in  the  chapter 
on  the  selection  of  subject  matter,  everyday  life  calls  for  ex- 
tensive use  of  skill  in  simple  calculations  with  small  numbers. 
Special  efforts  should  be  made  to  give  this  skill  to  all  normal 
pupils.  The  specialized  character  of  the  talent  for  numerical 
computation  is  shown  by  some  of  the  "lightning  calculators" 
who  are  often  quite  ordinary  in  other  respects.  Specialized 
absence  of  the  talent  is  shown  strikingly  in  the  case  of 
some  of  the  great  mathematical  reasoners.  For  example, 
Kepler  (1571-1630),  one  of  the  greatest  of  modern  astron- 
omers, formulator  of  three  mathematical  laws  of  motion  to 
explain  the  movements  of  planets,  was,  according  to  Whewell, 
"  not  even  a  good  arithmetical  calculator,  often  making  mis- 
takes, some  of  which  he  detected  and  laments,  while  others 
escaped  him  to  the  last."  (2:  182) 

Mathematical  reasoning.  —  The  talent  for  mathematical 
reasoning,  illustrated  by  Kepler,  is  of  enormous  importance 
in  scientific  thinking  and  investigating.  Many  persons, 
however,  possess  it  in  very  small  degree.  Nevertheless, 
they  may  still  be  very  useful  citizens,  owing  to  their  abilities 
in  other  lines.  As  children  they  should  not  be  denied 
promotion  in  the  upper  grades  merely  because  they  fail 
with  problems  in  percentage. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  315 

Understanding  people.. —  The  capacity  for  understanding 
the  thoughts,  feelings,  temperaments,  and  actions  of  other 
persons  is  of  great  importance  in  getting  along  with  people 
and  in  devising  and  evaluating  forms  of  social  organization. 
Certain  eminent  figures  in  history  possess  this  talent  to  a 
high  degree.  Jesus  is  one  example,  as  shown  by  his  clear- 
cut  characterizations  of  the  different  types  of  his  day,  par- 
ticularly in  his  parables.  ./Esop  and  his  fables  furnish 
another  example.  Eminent  democratic  statesmen,  such  as 
Lincoln,  are  also  especially  talented  in  their  understanding 
of  people.  They  not  only  characterize  individuals  aptly,  but 
they  also  sense  in  a  very  keen  way  the  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings of  great  groups,  the  masses  whom  they  represent  and 
interpret.  On  the  other  hand,  some  persons  are  so  deficient 
.in  this  capacity  that  they  always  think  of  others  as  like  them- 
selves, or  never  think  at  all  of  the  thoughts  and  feelings 
that  others  have.  It  is  highly  desirable  that  all  pupils,  even 
the  naturally  deficient,  have  this  capacity  trained  to  its  highest 
possible  efficiency  in  order  to  promote  better  mutual  under- 
standing between  individuals  and  social  groups.  The  studies 
in  history  and  community  life,  as  well  as  the  fables,  fairy 
stories,  and  other  fiction  read  in  the  school  help  to  develop 
this  capacity  in  pupils. 

Capacity  for  managing  people  ;  leadership.  —  Finally,  we 
may  note  the  capacity  possessed  by  great  executives  and 
administrators  in  an  eminent  degree  —  the  capacity  for  man- 
aging people.  The  appearance  of  this  capacity  in  different 
children  and  its  variations  have  been  significantly  discussed 
by  a  great  American  sociologist,  Professor  Giddings.  He  de- 
scribes an  example  of  a  little  boy  of  five  who  had  been  given 
two  pieces  of  cake,  one  being  for  his  three-year-old  sister. 

One  piece  of  cake  was  slightly  larger  than  the  other.  The  boy 
seemed  to  know  that  something  or  other  in  his  antecedents  or 
his  environment  created  an  expectation  that  he  would  take  the 
smaller  piece  of  cake,  but  he  did  n't.  He  looked  at  the  two  pieces, 


316       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

went  to  the  sideboard,  obtained  a  knife,  carefully  cut  the  smaller 
piece  of  cake  into  two  pieces,  and  then  asked  his  sister  whether 
she  would  have  one  piece  of  cake  or  two  I  Don't  you  know  what 
that  boy  will  do  when  he  becomes  an  exploiter  of  schemes,  the 
superintendent  of  a  railroad,  or  a  political  boss  ?  (28  :  437) 

Types  of  leaders.  —  After  this  example,  Giddings  distin- 
guishes between  children  who  are  natural-born  followers 
and  those  who  are  natural  leaders.  Continuing,  he  says : 

Now  observe  the  methods  of  the  child  who  shows  early  in  his 
life  that  he  will  be  an  instigator,  an  initiator,  a  "  boss/'  1  use  the 
plain,  short  word.  President,  emperor,  king  —  these  are  dignified 
personages,  but  the  real  man  is  the  "  boss."  .  .  .  Does  the  child 
that  you  are  watching  get  his  way  by  sheer  savage,  brute  strength  ? 
Many  children  do.  Does  he  get  his  way  by  superior  courage,  or 
because  he  sees  farther,  sees  quicker,  and  keeps  on  seeing  longer 
than  the  other  children  do  ?  Some  children  get  their  way  by  these 
methods.  Or,  finally,  does  he  get  his  way  by  bartering,  or  by  offer- 
ing a  bribe  ?  .  .  .  I  am  quite  sure  that  it  is  necessary  to  warn  all 
teachers  to  watch  the  child  who  gets  his  way,  perhaps  when  he  is 
only  two  or  three  years  of  age,  by  offering  bribes.  Unless  guided 
he  will  become  one  of  those  human  beings  of  whom  so  often  we 
read  in  the  newspaper  obituaries :  "  An  excellent  man  in  all  the 
private  relations  of  life,  a  good  father,  an  excellent  neighbor,  [but] 
in  the  accumulation  of  his  fortune  and  in  the  methods  by  which  he 
obtained  political  distinction  and  leadership,  he  too  often  used 
methods  which  brought  him  into  notoriety  and  under  investigation." 
(28:  438) 

The  highest  type  of  leader:   energetic,  diligent,  intelli- 
gent, resourceful,  generous,  good-natiired,  likable,  moral.  — 
Finally,  notice  the  characteristics  of  the   highest  type  of 
capacity  for  leadership  which  Giddings  brings  out  in  the 
following  paragraphs  : 

You  may  find  that  a  child  is  getting  his  way,  and  is  beginning 
to  exercise  a  share  in  social  control  by  quite  another  method  than 
any  one  of  these  already  spoken  of.  He  is  not  a  little  brute  or  a 
savage.  He  is  not  a  bribe-giver  by  nature.  He  is  not  clever  in  the 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  317 

sense  of  being  tricky.  He  is  none  of  these  things.  You  notice 
that  within  limits  he  can  have  his  way  merely  by  being  energetic 
and  good-natured.  Everybody  likes  him.  He  creates  an  atmos- 
phere of  vitality,  of  liveliness.  Quite  unconsciously  the  little  chil- 
dren around  him,  all,  simply  because  they  like  him  and  like  to  be 
with  him,  spontaneously  follow  his  suggestions.  In  that  child  you 
have  the  possibilities  of  a  very  high  type  of  leadership.  It  can 
easily  be  spoiled ;  spoiled  through  vanity  or  by  indulgence.  Realize, 
then,  that  in  that  child  you  have  one  of  the  most  priceless  things 
in  human  society  —  a  human  being,  who,  if  he  develops  rightly 
and  is  not  spoiled  in  any  way,  may  become  one  of  those  leaders  of 
men  who  have  their  way  and  produce  results,  because,  without 
especially  trying  or  going  out  of  their  way,  and  merely  by  being 
naturally  superior,  and  working  ceaselessly  and  generously,  accord- 
ing to  the  initiative  of  their  own  minds,  they  inspire  confidence, 
hold  a  following,  and  are  obeyed. 

If  there  is  anything  whatever  that  is  inexcusable  in  educational 
methods  or  institutions,  it  is  the  killing  off  of  these  priceless  things 
in  human  character  and  mind.  To  fail  to  kill  off  the  evil  things  is 
bad  enough,  to  fail  to  develop  the  average  possibility  is  bad  enough, 
but  to  kill  off  the  rare,  priceless  things  upon  which  the  fullest  future 
progress  of  mankind  depends  is  the  most  criminally  inexcusable 
thing  that  any  educational  system  can  be  guilty  of.  Parents, 
teachers,  school  boards,  politicians,  society,  all  share  in  this  guilt 
when  they  fail  in  his  earliest  days  to  discover,  to  pick  out,  and 
properly  to  train  that  little  child  who,  as  you  see  by  watching  him 
on  the  playground  and  in  all  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life,  gets  his 
way  not  by  force,  nor  by  bribery,  nor  by  trickery,  —  the  devices  of 
politician  and  exploiter,  —  but  simply  and  naturally  by  sheer  intel- 
lectual and  moral  energy,  by  creating  an  atmosphere  that  all  little 
children  about  him  like  to  get  into,  and  by  making  them  without 
conscious  effort  on  his  own  part  eager  to  help  him  work  out  his 
suggestions.  For  that  boy  or  that  girl  has  in  him  or  in  her  the 
making  of  the  finest  possible  type  of  leader  of  men  or  leader  of 
women.  (28 :  440) 

Other  capacities.  Read  Thorndike.  —  In  the  foregoing 
paragraphs,  in  order  to  impress  the  reader  with  the  great 
variety  of  human  capacities  and  the  social  value  of  each,  we 


3i8        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

described  a  few  of  the  more  important  and  more  tangible 
ones ;  namely,  the  capacities  for  expression  in  language, 
drawing,  painting,  and  music,  for  acquiring  manual  skill,  for 
arithmetical  computation,  for  mathematical  reasoning,  for 
understanding  people,  and  for  managing  people.  In  each 
case  we  noted,  the  great  variations  between  individuals  in  a 
single  capacity.  Many  more  capacities  could  be  cited ;  for 
example,  Thorndike  gives,  in  addition  to  the  above,  the  capac- 
ities for  self-control,  energy,  precision,  thoroughness,  origi- 
nality, cooperation,  self-denial,  self-reliance,  refinement,  and 
sympathy.  In  order  to  secure  a  more  adequate  understanding 
of  these  capacities,  students  should  read  the  references  to 
Thorndike's  works  given  in  the  bibliography  on  page  322.  He 
has  done  more  than  any  other  American  to  impress  teachers 
and  school  superintendents  with  the  necessity  of  adapting 
school  work  to  differences  in  the  capacities  of  children.  In 
his  "  Principles  of  Teaching,"  Thorndike  discusses  not  only 
differences  in  capacity  but  also  differences  in  the  temperaments 
of  children  and  appropriate  treatment.  The  following  state- 
ment by  Kirkpatrick,  of  the  special  treatment  needed  by  a 
nervous  child,  suggests  the  problem  which  Thorndike  dis- 
cusses with  many  other  examples  : 

It  is  especially  important  that  the  nervous  child  should  not  be 
scolded,  found  fault  with,  or  in  any  way  induced  to  work  hard  or 
worry  about  his  work.  A  teacher  who  is  loud  of  voice,  unattractive 
in  dress,  and  sudden  and  variable  in  manner  is  especially  irritating 
to  a  nervous  child,  and  may  be  the  chief  occasion  of  the  nervous- 
ness. Although  a  teacher  should  be  quick  to  note  signs  of  ner- 
vousness, she  should  avoid  making  the  child  conscious  of  his 
condition.  The  establishment  of  regular  habits  of  work  and  of 
rest  or  amusement  are  of  great  value  in  decreasing  nervousness. 
(30:  335) 

Programs  of  National  Education  Association  discuss  indi- 
vidual differences.  — The  most  tangible  evidence  of  the  recent 
wide  interest  in  individual  differences  is  found  in  the  programs 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  319 

of  educational  organizations,  notably  the  National  Education 
Association.  In  1910  a  large  part  of  the  program  of  its 
winter  meeting  was  devoted  to  the  topic.  In  later  programs 
additional  papers  were  presented  on  the  topic. 

Study  childhood,  study  children,  study  each  child's  talents 
and  deficiencies.  From  Rousseau  to  Galton.  —  Many  of  the 
efforts  to  provide  for  individual  differences  which  are  dis- 
cussed by  the  eminent  educators  to-day  are  administrative 
in  character ;  that  is,  they  deal  with  the  establishment  of 
special  schools,  special  classes,  individual  promotions,  etc. 
The  chief  concern  of  each  teacher,  however,  in  providing  for 
individual  differences  is  so  to  differentiate  her  class  instruc- 
tion as  to  vary  the  pace  for  the  talented  and  the  deficient  in 
each  subject,  to  develop  each  pupil's  special  talents  toward 
the  greatest  usefulness,  and  to  correct  his  deficiencies  to  the 
minimum  skill  or  knowledge  which  may  be  socially  neces- 
sary. In  order  to  do  this  she  must  study  each  child  carefully, 
to  determine  what  individual  attention  he  needs.  In  doing 
this  she  is  merely  carrying  out  the  program  for  psychologizing 
teaching  which  Rousseau  proposed  in  his  "  Emile  "  in  1762, 
when  he  said,  "  Begin,  then,  by  studying  your  pupils  more 
thoroughly."  From  Rousseau  to  Galton  and  Thorndike,  the 
movement  to  consider  each  pupil's  capacities  and  progress 
has  been  gaining  momentum.  For  a  long  time  the  basis  of 
the  movement  was  sentimental ;  that  is,  the  "  sacredness  of 
the  child's  individuality  "  was  the  central  thought.  In  recent 
years  the  value  to  society  of  different  talents  —  from  the 
manual  skill  of  the  artisan  to  the  mathematical  reasoning  of 
a  Kepler  and  the  social  leadership  of  a  Lincoln  —  has  been 
important  in  causing  differentiated  teaching.  Probably  the 
most  important  and  valid  influence,  however,  has  been  the 
scientific  studies  of  human  nature  made  by  Galton  and  his 
followers.  Such  studies  remove  the  contentions  of  Rousseau 
from  the  realm  of  sentiment  and  mere  opinion,  and  transfer 
them  to  the  realm  of  scientific  conclusions. 


320       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Conclusion  of  discussion  of  individual  differences.  —  This 
will  conclude  our  discussion  of  adapting  class  instruction  to 
differences  in  capacity.  It  will  be  recalled  that  we  opened 
the  chapter  with  the  simple  example  of  monotones  and  sweet 
singers  in  the  same  family,  and  the  great  difference  in  the 
amount  and  kind  of  instruction  needed  to  teach  them  to 
sing.  We  then  took  up  examples  of  school  practices  which 
permit  slow  and  fast  pupils  to  advance  at  appropriate  rates. 
A  presentation  of  statistical  data  then  showed  the  need  of 
such  differentiated  teaching  for  the  fast  and  the  slow.  Surfaces 
of  frequency  were  presented  to  show  that  only  a  few  very 
bright  and  very  slow  pupils  would  be  found  in  each  capacity 
in  a  single  class.  Scientific  studies  by  Galton  and  others 
were  then  summarized  to  show  that  the  talents  and  deficien- 
cies of  pupils  are  commonly  due  to  their  inborn  equipment ; 
hence,  they  call  for  the  most  sympathetic,  reasonable  treat- 
ment by  the  teacher.  In  order  to  impress  the  latter  with  the 
great  variety  of  valuable  possibilities  to  be  found  in  different 
pupils,  a  few  of  the  most  important  human  capacities  were 
described  and  attention  called  to  the  recent  enthusiastic  inter- 
est of  American  educators  in  providing  differentiated  instruc- 
tion to  secure  the  greatest  individual  and  social  happiness 
through  the  development  of  the  talents  of  each  pupil. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

Brief  general  chapters.  —  *i.  JUDD,  C.  H.  Introduction  to  the 
Scientific  Study  of  Education.  (Ginn  and  Company,  1918.)  Chap,  xii, 
pp.  1 70-183.  On  social  value  of  differentiated  teaching. 

2.  PARKER,  S.  C.  Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  School.  (Ginn  and 
Company,  1915.)  Chap,  xv,  pp.  362-390. 

*3.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.  Principles  of  Teaching.  (A.  G.  Seiler,  1905.) 
Pp.  29-34,  83-98.  Describes  variety  of  human  capacities. 

Practical    schemes    for    providing    differentiated    teaching.  - 
*4.  BAGLEY,  W.  C.    Classroom  Management.    (The  Macmillan  Com- 
pany, 1907.)   Chap,  xiv,  pp.  214-224.    Describes  supervised  study. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  321 

5.  DRAKE,  E.  H.    An  Interesting  Experiment  [with  Minimum  and 
Maximum  Assignments].  Elementary  School  Journal,  December,  1914, 
Vol.  XV,  pp.  219-222.    Described  above  on  page  280. 

6.  HOLMES,  W.  H.   School  Organization  and  the  Individual  Child. 
(The  David  Press,  Worcester,  Mass.,  1912.)   A  very  full  summary  of 
many  phases  of  the  subject. 

7.  KENNEDY,  J.    The  Batavia  Plan  after  Fourteen  Years  of  Trial. 
Elementary  School  Journal,  June,  1912,  Vol.  XII,  pp.  449-459. 

8.  MEEK,  C.   S.    A   Study  in   Retardation  and  Acceleration.    Ele- 
mentary School  Journal,  April,  191 5,  Vol.  XV,  pp.  421-431.    Describes 
practice  of  promoting  individual  failures.    Relieves  congestion  in  lower 
grades  and  gives  poor  pupils  advantages  of  upper  grades.    Quoted 
above  on  page  287. 

9.  National    Education  Association.    The   Department  of   Superin- 
tendence.   The  report  for  1910,  pp.   143-265,  contains  several  papers 
dealing  with  individual  differences. 

Individual  diagnosis  in  arithmetic. —  10.  ANDERSON,  C.  J.  The 
Use  of  the  Woody  Scale  for  Diagnostic  Purposes.  Elementary  School 
Journal,  June,  1918,  pp.  770-781.  Similar  to  No.  12. 

11.  MAYBERRY,   I.  W.    Individualizing  Problems  for  Pupils.    Ele- 
mentary School  Teacher,  October,    1917,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.    133-137. 
Describes  measured  results  of  an  experiment. 

12.  SMITH,  J.  H.    Individual  Variations  in  Arithmetic.    Elementary 
School  Journal,  November,  1916,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  195-200.    Describes 
an  experiment  including  diagnosis  by  standard  tests  of  each  pupil's 
needs  followed  by  individual  drill  and  measured  improvement.    Quoted 
above  on  page  275. 

13.  UHL,  W.  L.    Use  of  Standardized  Materials  in  Arithmetic  for 
Diagnosing  Pupil's  Methods  of  Work.    Elementary  School  Journal, 
November,    1917,  pp.   215-218.    Describes  actual  examples. 

Individual  diagnosis  in  reading. —  14.  SCHMITT,  CLARA.  Develop- 
mental Alexia:  Congenital  Word-Blindness  or  Inability  to  Learn  to 
Read.  Elementary  School  Journal,  1918,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  680-700, 
757-769.  Child-study  specialist  of  Chicago  schools  describes  diagnosis 
and  instruction  of  1 3  cases. 

15.  ZIRBES,  LAURA.  Diagnostic  Measurement  as  a  Basis  for  Pro- 
cedure. Elementary  School  Journal,  March,  1918,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  505- 
522.  Describes  diagnosis  of  reading  needs  of  class  of  twenty  boys  and 
ten  types  of  remedial  lessons. 

Feeble-minded.  —  16.  ANDERSON,  META  L.  Education  of  Defec- 
tives in  the  Public  School.  (World  Book  Company,  1917.)  Helpful 
manual  telling  concretely  what  to  do. 


322        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

17.  WALLIN,  J.  E.  W.  The  Pedagogical  Status  of  the  Feeble- 
minded School  Children.  Elementary  School  Journal,  April,  1918, 
Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  588-597.  Described  and  quoted  above  on  page  304. 

Statistical  and  psychological  studies.  —  18.  COURTIS,  S.  A.  Meas- 
urement of  the  Relation  between  Mental  and  Physical  Growth.  Ameri- 
can Physical  Education  Review,  NoTember,  1917,  Vol.  XXII.  Full  of 
examples  and  diagrams  illustrating  peculiar  needs  of  individual  pupils. 
Most  of  Courtis's  publications  emphasize  differentiated  teaching. 

•19.  DOWNING,  E.  R.  The  Third  and  Fourth  Generation,  an 
Introduction  to  Heredity.  (The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1918.) 
Thoroughly  scientific  but  simple  discussion  for  young  students. 

20.  GALTON,   F.    Hereditary   Genius.    (The   Macmillan   Company, 
1869,   1892.)    The  pioneer,  mathematically  precise  study  of  inherited 
genius.    Without  a  statistical  mastery  of  this  volume  all  should  refrain 
from  dogmatizing  on  the  subject. 

21.  GALTON,  F.    A  Study  of  Twins.     Reprinted  in  the  Teachers 
College  Record,  May,  1901,  Vol.  II,  pp.  260-274.    Originally  published 
in  1 883  in  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty.   (The  Macmillan  Company, 
1893.)   Quoted  above  on  page  306. 

22.  GODDARD,  H.  H.    F~eeble-mindedness,   its  Causes  and  Conse- 
quences.   (The   Macmillan   Company,    1914.)    Precise  investigation  of 
327  cases  by  one  of  America's  leading  authorities. 

23.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.    Educational  Psychology.    Briefer  Course. 
(Teachers  College,  New  York,  1914.)    Part  III,  especially  pp.  331-339, 
354-368,  376-401.    Very  technical  discussions  for  advanced  students 
by  America's  leading  student  of  individual  differences.    For  fuller  dis- 
cussion see  Vol.  Ill  of  the  three-volume,  complete  edition  of  the  same 
work. 

•24.  THORNDIKE,  E.  L.  Individuality.  (Houghton  Mifflin  Com- 
pany, 191 1.)  Brief  popular  statement  of  the  influence  of  original  nature 
in  determining  individuality. 

Quoted  incidentally.  —  25.  BREED,  F.  S.,  and  FROSTIC,  F.  W.  A  Scale 
for  Measuring  English  Composition  in  the  Sixth  Grade.  Elementary 
School  Journal,  January,  1917,  Vol.  XVII,  pp.  307-325. 

26.  COURTIS,  S.  A.    Teacher's  Manual  for  Standard  Practice  Tests 
in  Arithmetic.   (World  Book  Company,  1916.) 

27.  FREEMAN,   F.  N.    How  Children  Learn.    (Houghton  Mifflin 
Company,  1917.)    Same  comment  as  on  No.  30,  below. 

28.  GIDDINGS,  F.  H.  The  Child  as  a  Member  of  Society.    Teachers 
College  Record,  November,  1915,  Vol.  XVI,  pp.  435-444.    Emphasis 
on  individual  differences  in  children's  original  nature  as  determining 
their  social  careers.    By  one  of  America's  greatest  sociologists. 


DIFFERENCES  IN  CAPACITY  323 

29.  HAGGERTY,  M.  E.    Specific  Uses  of  Measurement  in  the  Solu- 
tion of  School  Problems.  Seventeenth  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society 
for  the  Study  of  Education,  Part  II.    (Public  School  Publishing  Com- 
pany, Bloomington,  111.,  1918.)    Pp.  25-40. 

30.  KIRKPATRICK,  E.  A.     Fundamentals  of  Child  Study.    (The 
Macmillan  Company,  1903;  revised,  1918.)    One  of  the  best  interpre- 
tative summaries  of  the  scientific  studies  of  children's  instincts  and 
methods  of  learning.  Avoids  the  sentimental,  one-sided  views  of  writers 
who  think  of  all  children  in  terms  of  their  own  childhood  and  overlook 
the  great  variation  in  children's  instincts  and  capacities. 

Recent  additions.  —  31.  HENRY,  T.  S.  Classroom  Problems  in  the 
Education  of  Gifted  Children.  Published  as  the  Nineteenth  Yearbook 
of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education,  Part  II.  (Public 
School  Publishing  Company,  Bloomington,  111.,  1920.)  Excellent  sum- 
mary of  investigations  and  practices  with  full  bibliography. 

32.  SEASHORE,  C.  E.    The  Psychology  of  Musical  Talent.    (Silver, 
Burdett  and  Company,  1919.)  Simple  tests  for  diagnosing  musical  talent. 
See  also  Eighteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study 
of  Education  (1919),  Part  II,  p.  i  n. 

33.  TERMAN,  L.  M.  Thelntelligenceof  School  Children.  (Houghton, 
Mifflin  Company,  1919.)    Scientific  diagnosis  and  testing. 

34.  WHIPPLE,  G.  M.     Classes  for  Gifted  Children.    (School  and 
Home  Publishing  Company,  1919.)   By  a  noted  investigator. 


CHAPTER  XII 

PROJECT  TEACHING:   PUPILS  PLANNING 
PRACTICAL  ACTIVITIES 

Main  points  of  the  chapter.  —  i.  A  pupil  project  may  be  defined 
as  some  practical  activity  planned  by  the  pupils. 

2.  Such  planning  was  early  introduced  in  manual- training  and 
assembly  exercises  and  then  extended  to  other  subjects. 

3.  It  is  valuable  because  it  gives  pupils  practice  in  such  practical 
planning  as  is  frequently  found  in  social  life. 

4.  Project  teaching  requires  of  the  teacher  wide  knowledge, 
executive  ability,  and  skill  in  directing  problem  solving. 

Definition.  —  The  central  element  in  project  teaching  is 
the  planning  by  pupils  of  some  practical  activity, — something 
to  be  done.  Hence  a  project  in  teaching  is  any  unit  of 
activity  that  makes  the  pupils  responsible  for  such  practical 
planning.  It  gives  them  practice  in  devising  ways  and 
means  and  in  selecting  and  rejecting  methods  of  achieving 
some  definite  practical  end.  This  conception  conforms  with 
the  dictionary  definition  of  a  project  as  "  something  of  a  prac- 
tical nature  thrown  out  for  the  consideration  of  its  being  done," 
and  the  statement  that  "to  project"  means  "to  devise,"  "to 
scheme."  Furthermore,  it  describes  with  considerable  pre- 
cision a  specific  kind  of  improved  teaching  that  has  become 
common  in  progressive  experimental  schools  since  1900. 

Examples.  Numerous  illustrations  of  such  planning  in 
the  text.  —  In  the  preceding  chapters  we  have  described  and 
pictured  numerous  examples  of  teaching  in  which  such  plan 
ning  by  the  pupils  is  prominent.  The  part  played  by  varied 
planning  by  pupils  is  particularly  well  illustrated  in  the  three 

324 


PROJECT  TEACHING  325 

pictures  of  medieval  scenes  on  pages  8,  230,  and  232.  In 
this  case  three  different  fifth-grade  classes  all  had  the  same 
practical  problem  of  illustrating  certain  phases  of  medieval 
life ;  yet  the  practical  outcomes  varied  greatly  on  account  of 
variations  in  the  pupils'  planning.  Another  example  of  such 
contrasts  in  the  pupils'  planning  of  similar  projects  is  shown 
in  the  construction  of  two  community  projects  by  kinder- 
garten children  as  pictured  on  pages  124  and  129.  Apart 
from  these  contrasting  outcomes  on  the  same  project,  the 
reader  will  find  illuminating  examples  of  project  teaching 
pictured  or  described  on  the  following  pages :  Frontispiece, 
14,  15,  18,  65,  121-129,  132-139,  i?8,  184,  185,  186, 
230-241,  and  312.  Another  rich  source  of  examples  of 
projects  planned  and  carried  out  by  pupils  is  the  Twentieth 
Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Educa- 
tion, Part  I  (Public  School  Publishing  Company,  Blooming- 
ton,  Illinois,  1921).  More  than  two  hundred  projects  from 
all  grades  are  there  briefly  described. 

Construction  and  expression  projects  most  prominent.  — 
Although  project  teaching  is  possible  in  any  subject  where 
the  planning  of  practical  jobs  is  appropriate,  it  was  first 
undertaken  most  extensively  in  the  form  of  construction  and 
expression  projects  in  manual  training,  history,  civics,  geog- 
raphy, composition,  and  assembly  exercises.  Vivid  examples 
of  such  constructional  and  expressional  projects  are  included 
in  the  pictures  listed  above.  These  show  sand-pan  construc- 
tions in  history  and  geography,  community-life  constructions 
planned  and  executed  by  kindergarten  pupils,  the  dramatiza- 
tion of  historical  scenes,  and  assembly  exercises  involving 
drawing  construction  and  dramatization. 

Manual  training  changed  from  set  exercises  to  pupil 
projects.  —  One  of  the  first  subjects  in  which  such  pupil- 
planning  of  practical  activities  replaced  the  performance  of 
dictated  formal  exercises  was  manual  training.  As  this  sub- 
ject was  taught  in  America  from  about  1880  until  1900,  it 


326       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

consisted  almost  exclusively  of  the  making  by  the  pupils 
of  formal  exercises  in  the  kindergarten  and  of  the  practical 
Swedish-Sloyd  and  Russian-machine  exercises  in  the  higher 
grades.  Among  the  earliest  efforts  to  introduce  pupil- 
planning  in  manual  training  we  find  the  experiments  of 
Francis  W.  Parker  and  John  Dewey  in  their  model  schools 
in  Chicago  about  1900.  Another  very  influential  center  was 
Teachers  College  of  Columbia  University  as  described  in 
the  first  volume  of  the  Teachers  College  Record,  1900, 
PP-  249-339- 

Francis  W.  Parker  s  assembly  exercises. — A  second  field 
in  which  the  pupil-planning  of  practical  activities  early  found 
a  place  was  in  the  morning  assembly  exercises.  Here  again 
Francis  W.  Parker  was  a  leader,  and  to-day  probably  the  best 
source  of  examples  of  such  assembly  programs  planned  by 
the  pupils  is  the  Second  Yearbook  (1913)  of  the  Francis  W. 
Parker  School  (330  Webster  Avenue,  Chicago,  Illinois). 

Planning  practical  activities  carried  into  history,  geog- 
raphy, and  civics.  —  Perhaps  the  next  step  in  the  develop- 
ment of  project  teaching  was  found  in  the  planning  by  pupils 
of  constructional  and  expressional  activities  in  the  study  of 
history,  geography,  and  civics.  We  have  pictured  above 
many  examples  of  such  teaching  from  the  Elementary  School 
of  The  University  of  Chicago,  which,  under  the  early  leader- 
ship of  Francis  W.  Parker  and  John  Dewey,  developed  a 
very  refined  technique  of  carrying  on  such  teaching.  In  the 
kindergarten  the  illustrations  of  pupils'  community  projects 
pictured  above  mark  a  notable  reform  from  the  formal  gifts 
and  occupations  of  the  earlier  kindergartens.  In  the  field  of 
civics  the  organization  of  "  clean-up  "  campaigns  and  similar 
activities  represents  an  interesting  extension  of  the  Dewey 
influence  on  a  wide  scale.  . 

Values  of  practice  in  planning  practical  activities.  —  The 
most  obvious  values  of  such  project  teaching  are  clearly 
implied  in  the  fact  that  skill  in  the  planning  of  practical 


PROJECT  TEACHING  327 

activities  is  very  necessary  and  useful  in  the  world  at 
large.  Successful  inventors,  designers,  architects,  organizers, 
managing  editors,  playwrights,  scenario  writers,  promoters, 
executives,  and  the  like,  all  must  have  skill  in  planning 
practical  activities.  Project  teaching  anticipates  this  need 
by  giving  pupils  practice  in  such  practical  planning  in  the 
ordinary  school,  instead  of  leaving  it  all  to  the  "  hard  school 
of  practical  experience"  after  graduation.  In  addition  to  this 
obvious  value  of  such  practice  in  practical  planning,  project 
teaching  has  the  additional  value  of  securing  attention  to 
certain  school  topics  through  appeals  to  certain  practical 
instinctive  interests,  as  illustrated  on  pages  230-241. 

Limitations  of  project  teaching.  —  As  described  above, 
project  teaching  is  only  one  type  of  procedure  needed  in 
pupils'  training  —  not  an  exclusive  type.  There  is  much 
valuable  activity  and  learning  in  social  life  (including  the 
school)  that  does  not  consist  of  planning  practical  activities. 
In  fact,  a  large  part  of  the  work  and  learning  of  artisans, 
clerks,  bookkeepers,  librarians,  teachers,  even  executives  and 
scientists,  consists  in  the  routine  juggling  of  mental  and 
material  products.  Hence  we  have  a  large  place  in  the  school 
for  the  learning  of  organized  systems  of  facts  from  textbooks, 
and  for  drill  in  acquiring  routine  skills,  as  illustrated  at  length 
in  Chapter  X.  It  is  significant  that  while  the  enthusiasm 
for  project  teaching  is  sweeping  the  country,  at  the  same 
time  the  scientific  investigators  of  methods  of  teaching  read- 
ing, spelling,  handwriting,  and  arithmetic  are  placing  very 
great  emphasis  on  the  scientific  diagnosis  of  each  pupil's 
needs  in  each  skill,  and  on  the  prescription,  by  the  teacher, 
of  specific  practice  exercises  suited  to  each  pupil's  peculiar 
needs  and  deficiencies  as  described  above  on  page  275. 

A  limited  social  objective  and  one  mode  of  learning.  — 
By  conceiving  project  teaching  as  the  planning  by  pupils  of 
practical  activities,  we  thus  avoid  the  danger  of  overempha- 
sizing it  to  the  exclusion  of  other  social  objectives  and  modes 


328       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

of  learning.  Skill  in  planning  practical  activities  thus  be- 
comes one  among  many  coordinate  objectives  of  school  teach- 
ing, and  practice  in  such  planning  becomes  one  among 
several  valuable  modes  of  learning. 

Teacher's  technique. — The  successful  direction  of  the 
practical  planning  of  pupils  probably  calls  for  greater  knowl- 
edge and  skill  in  the  teacher  than  any  other  type  of  teach- 
ing, (i)  The  wide  knoivledge  needed  is  illustrated  by  some 
absurd  mistakes  in  matters  of  scientific  and  historical  fact 
which  I  have  observed  in  the  project  teaching  of  even  highly 
skilled,  experienced  teachers.  These  mistakes  arose  from 
the  fact  that  the  solution  of  the  practical  project  problems 
with  which  the  pupils  were  concerned  carried  the  class  into 
scientific  and  historical  fields  where  the  teacher  was  not  well 
informed.  (2)  In  managing  group  projects  the  teacher  com- 
monly needs  skill  in  organizing  and  directing  subdivided 
labor.  She  needs  to  be  able  to  direct  the  organization  of 
committees,  and  to  keep  track  of  the  varied  activities  of  indi- 
viduals who  have  been  assigned  special  phases  of  the  project. 
Thus  project  teaching  requires  greater  executive  ability  in 
the  teacher  than  textbook  recitations  or  routinized  drill. 
(3)  Finally,  the  teacher  needs  skill  in  guiding  pupils  in 
problematic  thinking.  Such  skill  is  discussed  at  length  in  the 
chapter  on  "  Problem  Solving  "  in  the  author's  "  Types  of 
Elementary  Teaching  and  Learning  "  (Ginn  and  Company).1 
As  brought  out  there,  we  find  that  the  successful  direction 
of  problem  solving  involves  in  the  teacher  skill  in  getting  the 
pupils  to  do  each  of  the  following :  I,  Define  the  problem 

1  Published  also  in  the  Elementary  School  Journal,  September  to  Decem- 
ber, 1920,  Vol.  XXI.  As  defined  there,  a  problem  is  "  a  question  involving 
doubt."  As  defined  above,  a  project  always  involves  some  practical  prob- 
lem. Besides  such  practical  problems,  however,  we  have  purely  theoretical 
ones  such  as  "  Why  does  the  mist  hang  on  the  mountain  side  ? "  or  "  Who 
was  the  greater  general,  Napoleon  or  Alexander  ? "  Guiding  pupils  in 
solving  either  practical  or  theoretical  problems  involves  the  technique 
outlined  in  the  author's  chapter  on  problem  solving. 


PROJECT  TEACHING  329 

clearly  ;  II,  Keep  the  problem  in  mind  ;  III,  Make  a  variety 
of  suggestions  ;  IV,  Criticize  and  evaluate  each  suggestion  ; 
V,  Organize  the  thinking  systematically  and  summarize  from 
time  to  time  its  net  outcomes. 

Summary  of  Part  II:  learning  processes,  general  aspects. 
—  We  concluded  the  general  points  of  vieiv  presented  in 
Part  I  of  the  text  with  a  presentation  of  the  psychologi- 
cal point  of  view  in  organizing  subject  matter ;  namely,  that 
it  should  be  organized  not  merely  in  terms  of  the  subject, 
but  as  children  learn  it  most  readily  and  effectively.  We 
found  that  the  discussion  of  how  children  learn  contained 
so  many  problems  that  we  devoted  to  it  the  seven  chapters 
constituting  Part  II  of  the  book.  In  these  chapters  we 
presented  the  following  fundamental  principles  of  learning 
and  teaching : 

1.  Each  pupil  learns  through  his  own  responses.    Hence 
what  each  pupil  thinks  and  does  is  the  great  factor  in  learn- 
ing and  teaching. 

2.  The  pupil's  response  is  greatly  influenced  by  his  past 
experience.    In  order  that  the  pupil  may  respond  with  appro- 
priate ideas,  meanings,  feelings,  and  attitudes,  instead  of 
mere  words,  the  teacher  must  build  carefully  upon  his  past 
experience  and  enrich  his  experience  with  contacts  with  real 
objects  and  social  situations. 

3.  The  pupil's  response  is  also  influenced  by  his  present 
frame  of  mind.    Hence,  the  teacher  must  arouse  appropriate 
lines  of  thought  and  mental  backgrounds  and  attitudes  in 
order  to  secure  the  specific  educative  responses  desired  of 
pupils. 

4.  Among  the  most  important  of  these  attitudes  are  atten- 
tion and  interest.    Attention  to  the  school  activities  is  best 
secured  by  utilizing  the  children's  active  interests  in  romance 
and  adventure,  animals  and  persons,  social  approval,  rhythm, 
rime,  jingle  and  song,  plays  and  games,  problems,  construc- 
tions, collections,  communications,  etc. 


330       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

5.  One  of  the  features  of  school  work  that  has  been  most 
improved  through  applying  the  above  principles  is  drill.    It 
has  been  found  that  ten  minutes  a  day  of  scientifically  organ- 
ized, snappy,  interesting  drills,  adapted  to  the  individual  needs 
of  pupils,  suffices  to  develop  the  necessary  skill  in  any  one  of 
the  formal  subjects;  consequently,  most  of  the  day  is  left  free 
for  the  other  kinds  of  learning  to  be  carried  on  in  school. 

6.  The  adaptation  of  drills  to  the  varied  needs  of  indi- 
vidual pupils  gives  us  one  of  our  best  examples  of  the  dif- 
ferentiated instruction  which  is  necessitated  by  the  great 
differences    in    the    inborn  capacities  of   pupils    and    their 
opportunities  for  social  usefulness. 

7.  Pupils  who  have  special  aptitudes  for  planning  practi- 
cal activities  are  given  special  opportunities  to  develop  these 
aptitudes  in  the  project  teaching  that  has  recently  become 
popular  in  American  schools. 

Conclusion  of  Parts  I  and  II. — The  summary  on  page 
155  of  the  broadening  purposes  of  elementary-school  teach- 
ing, of  economy  in  classroom  management,  and  of  the  prin- 
ciples determining  the  selection  and  organization  of  subject 
matter,  together  with  the  above  summary  of  the  general 
aspects  of  learning,  presents  some  of  the  most  important 
general  principles  of  method.  Many  special  applications  of 
these  general  principles,  together  with  additional  facts  about 
learning,  arise  in  discussions  of  the  best  ways  of  teaching 
children  to  write,  to  spell,  to  read,  to  cipher,  to  understand 
social  life,  to  solve  problems,  to  express  themselves,  to  enjoy 
themselves  in  harmless  ways,  and  to  behave  morally,  which 
are  discussed  in  the  author's  "  Types  of  Elementary  Teach- 
ing and  Learning." 

Enlist  for  artistic  teaching.  —  Finally,  it  is  suggested  that 
the  reader  review  the  discussion  of  artistic  teaching  with 
which  this  book  opened,  and  endeavor  to  achieve  artistic 
success  and  happiness  as  a  teacher  along  the  lines  described 
in  the  above  chapters. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  E.,  51 

Abstractions,  understanding  of,  174 

Accessory  processes  in  drill,  257 

Accuracy  in  drill,  256 

Activity.   See  Self-activity 

Adams,  J.,  192,  193,  198,  199 

Addams,  Jane,  43 

Adventure,  interest  in,  201-205,  218 

Aims  of  education.    See  Purposes 

Almanacs,  87 

Alphabet  methods  of  Pestalozzi, 
144-149 

Anderson,  C.  J.,  321 

Anderson,  Meta  L.,  321 

Animals,  interest  in,  218 

Apperception,  Chap.  VII,  168-189 

Arithmetic,  historical  changes  in, 
95;  relative  values  in,  102-104; 
learning  to  count  in,  170;  drill 
games  in,  208,  241  ;  drill  lessons 
in,  250-255;  Stone's  tests  in, 
265 ;  drill  in,  267  ;  individual  dif- 
ferences in,  274-276,  279,  283, 
292,  298;  capacity  for,  314 

Artistic  teaching,  Chap.  I,  3-1 1 

Attention,  206  ff. 

Ay  res,  Leonard,  106,  109,  112 

Bachman,  F.  P.,  156,  189 

Bagley,  W.  C.,  51,  55,  58,  83,  267, 
289,  320 

Bible,  interest  in,  49 

Bibliographical  notes,  on  artistic 
teaching,  u  ;  on  purposes  of 
teaching,  51-52  ;  on  classroom 
management,  83  ;  on  selecting 
subject  matter,  1 1 1  ;  on  organiz- 
ing subject  matter,  1 56  ;  on  self- 
activity,  1 66;  on  apperception, 
188;  on  preparation,  199;  on  in- 
terests, 245;  on  drill,  267;  on 
individual  differences,  320 

Bingham,  Caleb,  89-93 

Bobbitt,  J.  F.,  x,  51,  96,  in,  U2 

Books,  114-115,  123 


Breckenridge,  S.  P.,  51 

Breed,  F.  S.,  on  composition  scales, 

294-296,  322 
Brown,  H.  A.,  263,  268 

Capacities,  individual  differences 
in,  Chap.  XI,  269-323;  great 
variety  of,  310-322 

Cards  for  drill,  248-251 

Charters,  W.  W.,  199 

Chicago,  history  of,  139.  See  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago 

Chick,  learning  process  of,  159 

Child  labor,  24-27,  51 

Children,  to  be  studied,  319 

Civics,  96 

Classroom  management,  Chap.  Ill, 

53-83 

Collecting  instinct,  234 
"  Columbian  Orator,"  89-93 
Communication;  interest  in,  228 
Community  needs,  98 
Composition,  10,  121,  170 
Composition    scales  for   individual 

differences,  293-296 
Content  of  children's  minds,  173 
Cook,  W.  A.,  106,  112 
Correct  start  in  drill,  255 
Counting,  170 

Courtis,  S.  A.,  259,  268,  290,  292, 322 
Cubberley,  E.  P.,  51 
Curiosity,  222-228 

Darwin,  220 

Democracy,  and  aim  of  education, 
22,  27,  32—34  ;  and  oratory,  89 

Dewey,  John,  viii,  51,61,62, 100, 108, 
112,  199,  245 

Diagnosis  of  individuals,  in  arith- 
metic, 275,  321 ;  in  reading,  321 

Dickens,  C.,  176 

Differences  in  capacity,  Chap.  XI, 
.  269-323.  See  Individual  differ- 
ences 

Discipline,  74-82 


331 


TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


Distribution  of  individual  differ- 
ences, 297-302 

Downing,  E.  R.,  307,  322 

Drake,  E.  H.,  321 

Dramatic  interest  and  projects,  235- 
241 

Drawing,  Frontispiece,  145,  151, 
152,  311,  312 

Dresslar,  F.  B.,  52 

Drill,  Chap.  X,  247-268;  games,  208, 
239;  in  reading,  248;  in  arith- 
metic, 250-255;  principles  of, 
255-267;  correctness  in,  255; 
avoid  nonessentials  in,  257  ;  inter- 
est in,  258;  scientific  systems  for, 
259;  standard  scores  for,  261; 
concrete,  262  ;  incidental,  264-267 

Drudgery,  244 

Earhart,  L.  B.,  189,  267 

Economy  in  learning,  and  interests, 

Chap.  IX,  200-246 
Economy    in    management,    Chap. 

HI,  53-83 

Eloquence  in  early  readers,  89-93 
Emulation,  209-213,  216 
Encyclopedic  method,  116-131 
Enjoyment  of  leisure,  19,  35,  42-44 
Examinations,  absurd  mistakes  in, 

193 

Experiences,    building    on,    Chap. 

VII,  168-189 

Expression,  training  in,  19 ;  interest 
in,  228  ;  capacity  for,  310-311 

Factory  system,  27-32 

Favorable   frame   of   mind,    Chap. 

VIII,  190-199 
Fear  of  pain,  215,  217 
Feeble-minded,  74  ;  heredity  in,  303  ; 

possible  achievements  of,  304, 321 
First  day,  routine  of,  62-64 
Frame   of  mind,   favorable,  Chap. 

VIII,  190-199 
France,  tuberculosis  in,  39 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  86-88 
Freeman,  F.  N.,  x,   166,  246,  265, 

268,  288,  322 
Froebel,  and  first  kindergarten,  97- 

98 ;  and  geometrical  forms,  146- 

148;  and  symbolism,  177-181.  See 

Kindergarten 
Frostic,  F.  W.,  294,  322 


Galton,  Francis,  on  hereditary  gen- 
ius, 305;  on  twins,  306,  319,  322 

Games,  interest  in,  239 

Genius,  hereditary,  305 

Geography,  organization  of,  116- 
121 ;  projects  in,  117-121  ;  memo- 
rizing of,  176;  home,  182;  mod- 
eling in,  183-187;  sugar-coated, 
207 ;  supplementary  assignments 
in,  285 

Geometrical  forms,  145-148 

Giddings,  F.  A.,  on  capacity  for 
leadership,  315-317,  322 

Goddard,  H.  II.,  303,  322 

Good  will,  35,  44 

Graphs  for  individual  differences, 
298-301 

Gray,  W.  S.,  x 

Greek  history,  140 

Grocery  store  in  kindergarten,  126 

Gymnastics,  145,  151 

Habits,  as  educational  aims,  47-48  ; 

and  reasoning,  61 
Haggerty,  M.  E.,  323 
Hall,  G.  S.,  on  content  of  children's 

•minds,  173,  188 
Handling  materials,  68-71 
Handwork,  13-17,  227 
Handwriting,  145,  151  ;  rhythm  in, 

222  ;  drill  in,  265-266 
Happiness,  as  aim  of  education,  32— 

35 

Harmless  enjoyment,  42-44 
Hazen,  C.  D.,  25-27,  51 
Health  as  aim  of  education,  35-42 
Heredity,  in  monotones,  271-272; 

in  feeble-minded,  303  ;  in  geniuses, 

305  ;  in  twins,  306 
Hill,  Patty,  ix,  10,  156 
Historical    changes    in    purposes, 

19-34 

Historical  projects,  pictures  of, 
Frontispiece,  8,  14,  132,  134,  136, 
138,  184,  185,  230,  232,  236,  238, 
240 

History,  project  method  in,  122; 
organization  of,  131-141 ;  chrono- 
logical order  in,  131-135;  psy- 
chological order  in,  135-141  ; 
preparatory  step  in,  195 ;  appeals 
to  adventure  interest,  204,  218, 
219;  problems  in,  227 


TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS        333 


Holmes,  W.  H.,  321 
Home  geography,  182 
Hookworm  disease,  36-38 
"  How  to  Live,"  40 
Humanitarianism,  23-27 
Hygienic  conditions,  71-74 

Ideals  as  educational  aims,  48 

Illiteracy,  92 

Imitative  play,  235-241 

Improvability,  308 

Inborn  characteristics,  302-323 

Indian  life,  132-137 

Individual  differences  in  capacities, 
Chap.  XI,  269-323  ;  for  singing, 
270-273 ;  in  drill  in  fundamen- 
tals, 273-277  ;  varied  assignments 
for,  279-286 ;  and  special  promo- 
tions, 287  ;  and  supervised  study, 
289;  scientific  studies  of,  289- 
307 ;  distribution  of,  290—301 ; 
causes  of,  302-307 ;  sympathetic 
treatment  for,  307  ;  and  improva- 
bility,  308  ;  great  variety  in,  310- 

319 

Individuality,  55-61 
Industrial  revolution,  27-32 
Information  as  an  educational  aim, 

46-47 

Inhibition,  163 
Initiative,  55-61 
Instincts.   See  Interests 
Intensive  study,  116-131 
Interdependence,  27-32,  58 
Interest,  as  a  favorable  attitude,  198  ; 
and  economy  in  learning,  Chap. 
IX,  200-246;  in  adventure,  201; 
utilizing  children's,  as  a  business 
proposition,  205  ;   and  spontane- 
ous   attention,    206 ;    sugar-coat- 
ing for,  207  ;  questions  in  using 
an  instinctive,  209 ;  in  emulation, 
209  ;  list  of  instinctive,  214  ;  old- 
fashioned    appeals    to,  215;    in 
romance,    218;    in    people    and 
animals,  218;  in  social  approval, 
220;  in  rhythm  and  rime,  221  ;  in 
puzzles,  problems,  etc.,  222-228; 
in  expression,  228  ;  in  manipula- 
tion, 229 ;  in  collecting,  234 ;  in 
dramatic    play,   235;    in   games, 
239;  and  work,  242-245;  in  drill, 
258 


Interests  as  educational  aims,  49-50 
Irrigation  project,  186 

James,  William,  on  habit  and  rea- 
soning, 61-62  ;  on  simple  to  com- 
plex, 149;  mentioned,  83, 156,  246 

Jesuit,  discipline,  77  ;  emulation,  216 

Jones,  W.  F.,  105,  112 

Judd,  C.  H.,  viii,  x,  n,  51,  320 

Kelly,  Myra,  on  monitors,  68,  83 ; 
on  experiences  of  slum  children, 
171,  189 

Kennedy,  J.,  289,  321 

Kindergarten,  ix ;  pictures  of,  16, 
18,  65,  122,  123,  124,  127,  129, 
170,  178,  1 80;  purposes  of,  16- 
19;  bibliography  of,  52,  83,  156; 
grouping  pupils  ,  in,  64-67  ;  pre- 
paring materials  in,  70 ;  hygienic 
conditions  in,  73 ;  discipline  in, 
79 ;  historical  changes  in,  97-98 ; 
projects  in,  125-127;  geometri- 
cal constructions  in,  146-148; 
symbolism  in,  177-181  ;  use  of 
rhythm  in,  222  ;  constructive  prob- 
lems in,  227,  231  ;  imitative  play 
in,  235 

King  Tawny  Mane,  202 

Kingsl.ey,  S.  C.,  52 

Kirkpatrick,  E.  A.,  on  rivalry,  212; 
on  social  approval,  220;  men- 
tioned, 246,  323  ;  on  nervous  child, 
3i8 

Klapper,  P.,  267 

Labor,  organized,  31-32 

Laggards,    special    promotions   of, 

287-289 

Lancasterian  schools,  216 
Language,  capacity  for,  310 
Leadership,  capacity  for,  315-317 
Learning,  processes  of,  154,  Part  II, 

157-330;  meaning  of,  158-160 
Leisure,  training  for,  31,  42-44 
Libraries,  88,  92,  278 
Life  Extension  Institute,  40 
Lighting,  7 1-73 
Local  history,  137 

Mclntire,  R.,  52 
McMaster,  J.  B.,  87,  112 
McMurry,  F.  and  C.,  156,  189,  199 


334       TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


Madison,  James,  22 

Malaria,  38 

Management,    economy    in,    Chap. 

HI,  53-83 

Manual  skill,  as  an  aim,  19 ;  capacity 
for,  311-313 

Manual  work,  13-17;  interest  in, 
229-234 

Map  of  Rockefeller  Foundation 
activities,  37 

Mapping  neighborhood,  182 

Mark  Twain,  211 

Marshall,  H.  E.,  218 

Massachusetts,  law  of  1647,  20 

Mathematical  reasoning,  314 

Mayberry,  I.  W.,  321 

Meek,  C.  S.,  on  special  promotions, 
287,  321 

Mental  activity,  interest  in,  222 

Minimum  and  maximum  assign- 
ments, 280 

Modeling  in  sand-pan,  183-187 

Monitors,  68-70 

Monotones,  270-273,  276,  308,  309, 

3M 
Moral  training,  as  an  aim,   18,  44 ; 

from  religious  to  civic,  96-97 
Morehouse,  F.  M.,  83 
Music,  capacity  for,  314.  See  Singing 

National  Education  Association,  318 
Native  capacities,  302-323 
Needs,  social,  85-101 
New  England  Primer,  21 
New  York  City,  schools  of,  24,  69 
Normal  frequency  surface,  300 
North  America,  geographical  teach- 
ing of,  117-120 

Obedience,  58 

Open-air  schools,  41,  42,  52 

Oral  reading.    See  Reading 

Oratory  in  early  readers,  89-93 

Order,  74-82 

Organizing  subject  matter,  Chap.  V, 

113-156 

Original  nature,  influence  of,  302-307 
O'Shea,  M.  V.,  106,  112 

Palmer,  Luella  A.,  73,  83 

Parker,  S.  C.,   n,  51,  83,  112,  156, 

189,  320 
Parker,  Edith,  156 


Passing  of  pupils,  67 

Past  experience,  building  on,  Chap. 

VII,  168-189 

People,  capacity  for  understanding, 
315  ;  capacity  for  managing,  316 

Pestalozzi,  and  the  psychologizing  of 
teaching,  142-149  ;  and  object  les- 
sons, 175;  and  clay  modeling,  183 

Physical  activity,  interest  in,  229- 
234 

Physical  conditions,  71-74 

Play,  imitative,  interest  in,  235-241 

Playhouse  in  kindergarten,  126 

Poetry  of  children,  10,  311 

Postal  service,  88 

Practice,  Chap.  X,  247-268 

Preparation,     doctrine     of,     Chap. 

VIII,  190-199 

Problems,  solving,  19;  interest  in, 
226-228;  kinds  of,  227 

Projects,  in  organizing  subject 
matter,  1 16-131  ;  Chap.  XII,  324- 
330.  See  Historical  projects 

Promotions,  individual,  287-289 

Psychological  aims,  45—50 

Psychological  organization  of  sub- 
ject matter,  131-155 

Pupil  activity,  161  ff. 

Puritan  education,  19-21,  33 

Purposes,  of  elementary  education, 
Chap.  II,  12-52  ;  of  kindergarten, 
16-19;  colonial,  19-21;  demo- 
cratic, 22  ;  humanitarian,  23-27  ; 
influence  of  industrial  revolution 
on,  27-32;  broad,  social,  35-45; 
psychological,  45-50 

Puzzle  interest,  222 

Quick,  R.  H.,  83 

Reading,  for  enjoyment,  43,  44 ; 
habit  of,  48  ;  historical  reasons  for 
oral  and  silent,  86-95  >  ABC 
methods  in,  144;  whole  method 
in,  150;  absurd  mistakes  in,  193; 
preparatory  step  in,  196;  made 
interesting  with  adventure  stories, 
201-205,  218;  a  drill  lesson  in, 
248-250;  supplementary  assign- 
ments in,  282-286 ;  individual  dif- 
ferences in,  289-292,  299-300 

Reasoning,  55.  60-62 ;  in  mathe- 
matics, 314 


TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS        335 


Relative  values,  101-107;  Spencer 
on,  101 ;  in  arithmetic,  102-104; 
in  spelling,  104-106;  scientific 
determination  of,  107 

Religion,     in     colonial     education, 

!9-2I>  33.  96 

Riddles,  interest  in,  223-225 

Rime,  221 

Ritter,  Karl,  116 

Rockefeller  Foundation,  37-38 

Romance,  interest  in,  201,  218 

Roman  history,  140;  modeling  in, 
184 

Rousseau,  J.  J.,  and  the  psychologi- 
cal organization  of  subject  matter, 
141-142;  criticizes  parrot  recita- 
tions, 175;  and  instinctive  inter- 
ests, 216,  319 

Routine,  Chap.  Ill,  53-83 

Rules  for  discipline,  80 

Russian  Revolution,  22 

Rhythm,  221 

Sand-pan,  184-187 

Sarcasm,  215 

Sargent,  W.,  152 

Saxon  village,  185 

Schmitt,  Clara,  321 

Scientific  investigations,  of  spelling 
vocabulary,  104  ;  general  charac- 
teristics of,  107-111;  of  learning. 
159;  of  individual  differences, 
289-307 

Scientific  method,  107-1 1 1 

Seating  of  pupils,  64-67 

Selecting  subject  matter,  Chap.  IV, 
84-112 

Self-activity,  Chap.  VI,  157-167 

Self-control,  163 

Service,  social,  35,  44-45 

Shepherd  life,  137 

Silent  reading.   See  Reading 

Simple  to  complex,  144-149 

Singing,  for  enjoyment  43.  44  ;  in- 
terest in,  221 ;  capacity  for,  270- 
273>  276,  308,  309,  314 

Slater,  S.,  28-29 

Small,  Albion,  34 

Smith,  J.  H.,  275,  321 

Social  approval,  interest  in,  220 

Social  needs,  85-101,  227 

Social  point  of  view,  99 

Social  service,  35,  44,  45 


Soft  pedagogy,  244 

Speed  in  drill,  256 

Spelling,  investigations  of  relative 
values  in,  104-106;  transfer  of 
skill,  263  ;  individual  differences, 
308 

Spencer,  Herbert,  mentioned,  20. 
51,  108,  112;  on  social  point  of 
view,  99-100;  on  relative  values, 
101 

Spontaneity,  55-61 

State,  training  for  the,  33-34 

Storm,  Grace,  184-185 

Stone,  C.  W.,  265,  268 

Strayer,  G.  D.,  267 

Subject  matter,  organization  of, 
Chap.  V,  1 13-1 56  ;  in  geography, 
116-121  ;  in  history,  122,  131-141  ; 
in  the  kindergarten,  125-127, 
146;  value  of  project  method  in, 
127-131 ;  in  terms  of  the  learner, 
131-155;  Rousseau's  influence 
on,  141  ;  Pestalozzi's  influence 
on,  142-149;  simple-to-complex 
methods  in,  144-149;  in  larger 
wholes,  149-151 

Subject  matter,  selection  of,  Chap. 
IV,  84-112;  adapting  to  social 
needs,  85-101  ;  in  reading,  86-95  < 
in  arithmetic,  95,  102  ;  in  kinder- 
garten, 97-98 ;  determining  rela- 
tive values,  101—107 ;  scientific 
method  in  selecting,  107-112 

Sugar-coating,  207 

Summary,  of  Parti,  155;  of  Part 
II,  329 

Supplementary  assignments,  280- 
286 

Swift,  on  typewriting  skill,  277 

Symbolism  in  kindergarten,  177- 
181 

Systems  for  drill,  259,  267 

Teachers,  training,  4,  6,  119 

Temple,  Alice,  ix,  64,  66,  70,  79, 
83,  156,  189 

Textbooks,  114-115,  123 

Thorndike,  E.  L.,  mentioned,  viii. 
83,  112,  167,  189,  199,  222,  246, 
268,  277,  301,  320,  322 ;  on  routine 
and  originality,  60 ;  on  rules,  80 ; 
on  scientific  method,  1 10 :  on  learn- 
ing of  chicks,  159;  on  inhibition, 


336        TEACHING  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


163;  on  symbolism,  179;  on  mis- 
takes in  reading,  193 ;  reading 
selections  from,  201  ;  on  social 
approval,  220 ;  on  mental  activity, 
228;  on  physical  activity,  229; 
on  individual  differences,  309 ;  on 
capacities,  318 

Tidyman,  W.  F.,  263,  268 

"  Tom  Sawyer,"  211 

Tryon,  R.  M.,  29,  51 

Tuberculosis,  38-42 

Twins,  original  nature  in,  306 

Typewriting  skill,  277 

Uhl,  W.  I..,  321 

University  of  Chicago  Elementary 
School,  ix ;  course  of  study  of, 
n,  156;  geography  in,  117-121; 
kindergarten  projects  in,  125-127; 


history  in,  135-140;  use  of 
sand-pan  in,  184;  dramatic  proj- 
ects in,  236-241;  drill  in,  265; 
reading  rates  in,  291.  See  List  of 
illustrations 

Values.   See  Relative  values 
Ventilation,  71 
Viking  tales,  137 

Wallin,  J.  E.  W.,  268,  304,  322 

White,  E.  E.,  83 

Wilson,  G.  M.,  103 

Wilson,  President,  92 

Wonder,  222 

Work  and  interest,  242-245 

Zirbes,  Laura,  321 


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